Benchmarking Irrigation Water Use for the

Australian Cotton IndustryJanelle Montgomery, Robert Hoogers

Kieran Shepherd & Stuart Bray

Irrigation Australia Ltd Conference, June 2 – 6, June 2014

How is the Australian Cotton Industry Performing? Bales/ML

Background– Cotton industry continues to be

criticised for its water use– Australian cotton industry proactive

in assessing WUE– Benefits of benchmarking

• Industry - show rate of improvement, MERI

• Individual irrigators - compare performance with region or industry enabling improvement.

Cameron and Hearn (1997) Agronomic and economic aspects of water use efficiency in the Australian cotton industry. Report to CRDC, unpublished.

– Irrigation efficiency (% water input used in ETc)– Crop Water Use Index (Yield / ETc)

Surveys of Cotton Water Use

Surveys of Cotton Water Use

Tennakoon and Milroy (2003) Crop water use and water use efficiency on irrigated cotton farms in Australia, Agricultural Water Management, Vol. 61, pp 179-194

– 1996/97, 1997/98 & 1998/99 cotton seasons– 25 farms– Gross Production Water Use Index 0.79 Bales/ML

Best data available Subtle differences in definitions and methodology

“lack of good annual and robust benchmarking data is an issue that the cotton industry and irrigation sector needs to address”

Payero and Harris (2007)

Payero, J. And Harris, G. (2007) Benchmarking Water Management in the Australian Cotton Industry. Cotton Catchment Communities CRC, QDPI&F

NSW DPI have rectified the lack of robust irrigation benchmarking data Irrigation benchmarking studies carried out by

NSW DPI– 2006/07 cotton season (138,795 ha)– 2008/09 cotton season (140,590 ha)– 2012/13 cotton season (405,000 ha)

06/07 & 08/09 low price, low water availability meant small plantings.

2012/13 good water and record plantings.

~ 40 farms visited from Central Qld to Southern NSW 06/07

– 36 farms– Grew 12,000 Ha of cotton – 9% of 2006/07 area– Yielded 109,000 bales – 13% of 2006/07 yield– Estimated 99,000 ML of irrigation water used

08/09– 45 farms– Grew 17,000 Ha of cotton – 12% of 2008/09 area– Yielded 106,000 bales – 7% of 2008/09 yield– Estimated 96,000 ML of irrigation water used

12/13 (preliminary results)– 40 farms to date (6 still to collate)– Grew 22,000 Ha of cotton – 5% of 2011/12 area– Yielded 207,807 bales – 5% of 2011/12 yield– Estimated 166,601 ML of irrigation water used

A survey of Cotton Water Use

Data collection and analysis

Utilised on-line calculator Watertrack Rapid Ensures consistency overtime Robust calculations of:

– irrigation performance indicators– crop water use– effective rainfall– on-farm water losses

Watertrack Rapid used for all

NSW DPI surveys

A Survey of Cotton Water Use for the 2006/07 season

Data collected on-farm includes:– Yield, area, soil type, – Sowing/harvest dates– Irrigation dates– Water Inputs – rainfall, storage volumes, water

harvested, starting and ending soil moisture deficit

Water Summary Report

Performance Indicators Report

Av. 2.64 ML/Ha

Av. 7.33 ML/Ha

Av. 9.98 ML/Ha

Av. 11.12 b/Ha

-2.00

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

Crop yield (Bales/Ha) Total Gross AvailableWater (ML/Green Ha)

Crop Transpiration(ML/Green Ha)

Total Loss (ML/GreenHa)

06/07 Results - Water Summary Reports

Av. 2.64 ML/Ha

Av. 7.33 ML/Ha

Av. 9.98 ML/Ha

Av. 11.12 b/Ha

-2.00

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

Crop yield (Bales/Ha) Total Gross AvailableWater (ML/Green Ha)

Crop Transpiration(ML/Green Ha)

Total Loss (ML/GreenHa)

06/07 Results - Water Summary Reports

Av. 1.53 bales/ML

Av. 1.31 bales/ML

Av 1.13 bales/ML

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

Crop Water Use Index (CWUI)(bales/ML)

Irrigation Water Use Index (IWUI)(bales/ML)

Gross Production Water UseIndex (GPWUI) (bales/ML)

ba

le /

ML

06/07 Results – Performance Indicators

Comparison of irrigation benchmarks

40 per cent increase in Gross Production Water Use Index (bales per ML) in 10 years

– Tennakoon and Milroy (2003) • Cotton Industry Average GPWUI = 0.79 b/ML

– 2006/07 Watertrack Rapid Survey• Cotton Industry Average GPWUI = 1.13 b/ML

Av. 2.07 ML/Ha

Av. 7.59 ML/Ha

Av. 9.68 ML/Ha

Av. 10.63 bales/Ha

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Crop yield(Bales/Ha)

Total Gross AvailableWater

(ML/Green Ha)

Crop Transpiration(ML/Green Ha)

Total Loss(ML/Green Ha)

08/09 Results - Water Summary Reports

Av. 1.14 bales/MLAv. 1.97 bales/MLAv. 1.41 bales/ML

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Crop Water Use Index (CWUI) (bales/ML)

Irrigation Water Use Index(IWUI) (bales/ML)

Gross Production Water UseIndex

(GPWUI) (bales/ML)

ba

les

/ M

L

08/09 Results – Performance Indicators

12/13 Preliminary Results - Water Summary Reports

12/13 Preliminary Results – Performance Indicators

Comparison of three years

Comparison of three years

Crop yield (Bales/Ha) Total Available Water (Ml/Green Ha) Crop Evapotranspiration (Ml/Green Ha)

Total Loss (Ml/Green Ha)0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Av. 12.53 ML/Ha

Av. 11.26 ML/Ha

Av. 8.88 ML/Ha

Av. 2.35 ML/Ha

Yield and water comparisons – Highest 10 whole farm yields

Crop yield (Bales/Ha) Total Available Water (Ml/Green Ha) Crop Evapotranspiration (Ml/Green Ha)

Total Loss (Ml/Green Ha)0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14Av. 12.53 b/Ha Av. 11.26 ML/Ha

Av. 8.88 ML/Ha

Av. 2.35 ML/Ha

Av. 8.98 b/Ha Av. 9.18 ML/HaAv. 7.83 ML/Ha

Av. 1.17 ML/Ha

12%

Yield and water comparisons – Lowest 10 whole farm yields

28% 18%

50%

Total Water Loss (ML/ha)

Performance indicator comparisons – Highest 10 whole farm yields

Crop Water Use Index (CWUI) (bales/ML)

Irrigation Water Use Index(IWUI) (bales/ML)

Gross Production Water Use Index(GPWUI) (bales/ML)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Av. 1.37 b/ML

Av. 1.26 b/ML Av. 1.13 b/ML

Crop Water Use Index (CWUI) (bales/ML)

Irrigation Water Use Index(IWUI) (bales/ML)

Gross Production Water Use Index(GPWUI) (bales/ML)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Av. 1.37 b/ML

Av. 1.26 b/ML

Av. 1.13 b/ML

Av. 1.16 b/ML Av. 1.49 b/MLAv. 1.04 b/ML

Industry Av.1.39 b/ML

Industry Av.1.12 b/ML

Performance indicator comparisons – Lowest 10 whole farm yields

Industry Av.1.27 b/ML

Conclusions Valuable information that is consistent and defined

– Australian Cotton Industry can confidently state that they have had a 40% increase in GPWUI over 10 years.

2012/13 preliminary results show that the cotton industry is performing just as well in years of full production, when they are managing much larger volumes of water.

Variation in the GPWUI between individual farms suggests there is still room for improvement

A significant effort by the industry is needed to collect and report irrigation performance indicators

This will better inform policy makers and the general public of the best practice performance of which the cotton industry is capable.

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge the cooperation and assistance provided by the irrigators, consultants and QLD and NSW Irrigation and Cotton extension staff and funding by CRDC.

THANK YOU