CSP00170 - Measuring and managing soil water in Australian agriculture

Project Summary

Project Start Date
1 July 2013
Project End Date
30 June 2016
Supervisor Name
Kirsten Verburg
Organisation
CSIRO Plant Industry
Region
South, North, West
Summary

The importance of soil water understanding and management in agricultural production continues to increase as profit margins decline due to market forces and increasing climatic variability. Previous soil research and extension has resulted in more than 1,000 farmers and consultants receiving basic training in soil-water management and more than 900 Australian soils being characterised for water-holding capacity (PAWC). Whilst this information is now being used as the basis for crop management decisions around Australia, there still remains a need to provide more training and field characterisation to meet on-going demand. This demand is the result of increasing adoption of technologies that allow growers to monitor soil water in real time and the use of decision support tools that allow growers and advisors to investigate crop management options based on seasonal climate and resource status (water and nutrients).

This project aims to build on past research, expanding field characterisation and monitoring activity to other areas in the western, southern and northern cropping regions and further enhancing the knowledge and skills of the agricultural community through exploration of farming system options using decision support tools informed by locally-relevant soil water and climate information.

The research will be undertaken under four output areas.

Output 1

A scoping study assessing:

    1. the need among WA growers and advisors for training.
    2. current WA projects that could provide data and/or are conducting workshops.
    3. current projects that could benefit from soil characterisation data. In WA a panel of 'PAWC champions' will be formed to gauge grower and consultant needs and interest in improving access to soil-water management information.

Members will be drawn from the four main cropping regions (northern, central, southern and south coast) and will include representatives from DAFWA, CSIRO, the consulting fraternity and grower groups with an interest in soil water measurement and the use of decision support tools in crop management.

A needs analysis will inform choice of location, soil issues to be addressed and membership of grower and consultants groups in WA.

Output 2

Increased capacity of growers and consultants to characterise soils for PAWC and measure soil water availability.

Identified groups will reflect the needs of local farming and extension communities and the diversity in local soils and farming systems. Groups will consist of 10 to 20 members meeting two to three times a year to discuss soil-water management issues and undertake facilitated training provided by the project and industry experts. There is an expectation that communication will be two-way, with group members contributing to research direction and applicability.

The groups will form the principal communication outlet for project outcomes and training in soil-water management and in the trialling and use of any tools developed by this or other projects.

    • 11 groups across the northern, southern and western cropping regions with 10 to 20 farmers and advisors in each group.
    • Successful engagement of local grower groups and consultants in project training and field activity.
    • Linkages developed with regional agencies to ensure that the best expertise and information is used in the development of local strategies for soil-water management
    • Improved knowledge and skills within the agricultural community in relation to soil-water management.

Output 3

Data set of targeted soil characterisations (25 soils a year) to fill gaps in the APSoil database.

Whilst more than 900 soils are now included in the APSoil database, there is still a requirement for regionally-targeted characterisation to meet on-going demand. Through communication with project collaborators, data 'black holes' will be identified and soils characterised to fill these gaps. This will be undertaken through the collaborative efforts of State agencies and grower groups working with the project. It will include the development of materials and delivery of training to all collaborating groups on the management and measurement of soil-water parameters and the training of regional experts in the techniques necessary to characterise soils for PAWC. Data will be collated within the APSoil data base and used as input to tools including SoilMapp and APSIM/ Yield Prophet.

    1. 80 soils characterised annually (west - 25, south - 30, north - 25) with data added to the APSoil database and made available for use in a range of tools.
    2. An increasing level of understanding amongst project participants of soil-water issues and their potential to impact on crop production.
    3. Regional experts (75) available to support local characterisation requirements.

Output 4

Delivery of soil-water management program to grower groups in Output 2.

Whilst it is a given that soil water information can directly contribute to better-informed crop management decisions, further value can be added by its use in decision-support tools including APSIM, Yield Prophet, HowWet, APSoil and SoilMapp. These tools allow the investigation of management issues in the context of seasonal climate variability and resource availability and will be used to explore a range of issues.

Topics will be developed through discussion with grower/consultant groups and may include the sensitivity of yield and gross margin to water availability and nutrition, the positives and negatives associated with particular levels of soil-information investment, soil variability and its impact on crop management and production, and the effect of rainfall decile on water availability and crop production. It is expected that analysis of crop production using these tools will result in the development of 'rules of thumb' to assist growers in making management decisions.

    1. Improved grower understanding of local cropping systems through the use of decision support tools informed by location-specific soil and climate information.
    2. Simple 'rules of thumb' developed from complex analysis of the system that allows growers to make confident decisions based on known soil resources.

Improved knowledge and skills within the agricultural community in relation to soil-water management.

Published Date
1 November 2016
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