Smarter Irrigation For Profit 2

The Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase 1 project enabled the completion of valuable research in areas including irrigation system audits, irrigation scheduling research, investigation of new technology, evaluation of system design and water use efficiency assessments. The project demonstrated that improved water productivity hinged on ‘Getting the Basics Right’. It found that participating Australian irrigators could achieve a 10-20 percent improvement in farm profitability by adopting best practice and precision irrigation technologies.

An essential component of the program was the establishment of optimised irrigation and key learning sites across Australia. These sites provided an opportunity for researchers, consultants, producers and industry support staff to see how irrigation technology could be applied to enhance resource management. Importantly they provided an opportunity for knowledge sharing and collaboration across sectors through field walks and field days.

Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase 2 has progressed the research findings from phase 1 and has 14 sub-projects covering three components:

• Development of new irrigation technologies including new sensors, advanced analytics to improve, irrigation scheduling and strategies to reduce water storage evaporation.
• Cost effective, practical automated irrigation systems for cotton, rice, sugar and dairy.
• Closing the irrigation productivity yield gap for cotton, rice, dairy, sugar and grains irrigators through a network of 36 farmer led optimised irrigation sites and key learning sites located on commercial farms across Australia.  

Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase 2 is a partnership between the major irrigation industries of cotton, dairy, sugar, rice and grains, research organisations and farmer groups.
The GVIA is an active participant in the Smarter Irrigation for Profit project with several projects being run in our valley. The Keytah trial has continued as part of the project and included research conducted by Deakin University in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. In addition the GVIA has been working with USQ in surface irrigation optimisation during the 2021-2022 season at Milo. 

More information on the projects can be found on the Smarter Irrigation for Profit 2 website and the CRDC website.