Australian govt to fund Irrigation for Profit scheme

07 May '15

2 min read

A project aimed at improving the profit of 3,000 cotton, dairy, rice and sugar irrigators has been announced as one of 12 successful Rural R&D for Profit programme projects by Australian agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce.

The project, Smarter irrigation for profit, is a partnership between the major irrigation industries of cotton, dairy, rice and sugar, led by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) in conjunction with Dairy Australia, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), Sugar Research Australia and other research partners.

According to a government statement, the project aims to improve the profit of each individual irrigator enterprise across the four industries by $20,000-40,000 per annum, with the support of 16 R&D partners and up to 19 farmer-managed learning sites.

CRDC executive director Bruce Finney welcomed the announcement of the funding, which will see up to $4 million directed from the Rural R&D for Profit programme to this project.

“Irrigated agriculture is responsible for 30 per cent of all agricultural production in Australia, and half the profit. This is a large-scale, ambitious project designed to achieve a 10-20 per cent improvement in water productivity, efficiency and farmer profitability, while also improving cross-sector industry research collaboration,” Finney said.

“It is designed to increase on-farm profitability by integrating new irrigation scheduling and delivery technologies into good irrigation practice. It will build on previous research to drive additional improvements in cotton and rice, and will transfer learnings from the cropping industries to dairy,” he said.

CRDC is the Australian cotton industry’s RD&E investment body, jointly funded by Australian cotton growers and the Australian Government. (SH)

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