Innovation in rural industries, and the development of 'people-power' to implement new ideas and technologies, is vitally important, especially with regard to the need for change and innovation in the management of water, Federal Member for Barker Patrick Secker said today.

Mr Secker was launching a new report from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, titles Dividing the Droplet: A water balance study for lucerne seed production resourced by an underground aquifer.

“This research will be of particular interest to farmers in the South Australia’s Upper-South East, as it deals with water management for the irrigated lucerne seed industry.

“Keith has long been acknowledged as the ‘lucerne capital of Australia’ and our state leads the nation in lucerne seed export. In fact, South Australia provides around 93% of exported certified lucerne (6,700 tonnes pa) each year. The remainder is exported from Victoria and New South Wales,” Mr Secker said.

Changes to the water licensing system in South Australia have meant that irrigated lucerne seed producers will need to quantify the water balance of their production methods to support their claim for a fair and equitable licence conversion.

Irrigated lucerne seed production in the Keith region of the Upper South East of South Australia is resourced by underground aquifers. The South Australian licensing system is being changed from an area based system with no cap on the quantity of water pumped to a metered licensing system with allocated permissible pumping volumes.

Researcher James de Barro has developed a methodology to quantify the water balance for both check bank guided flood irrigation and centre pivot irrigation. The method uses a combination of several commercially available instruments to measure the water pumped, losses to evaporation and drainage, as well as lucerne water use.

Conducted over three irrigation seasons, the project has provided excellent data for irrigators to use as supporting evidence through the licence conversion process.
Annette Sugden, RIRDC Senior Research Manager for Established Industries, which includes the Pasture Seeds industry, said that the report was a good example of how the partnership between industry and government was providing tangible, timely and relevant results for producers.

“In addition to easing the transition into a new licensing system, improved water management and water use efficiency in irrigated lucerne production will ultimately lead to a more profitable and sustainable industry,” Ms Sugden said.

ENDS

Media inquiries:
RIRDC – Annette Sugden  02 6271 6497 / 0408 970 412
James de Barro - 08 8755 3400 / 0417 946 053
Patrick Secker’s office – Alecia Bland – 0407 601 395