Investment
Investment
Increased grower profitability on soils with sodicity and transient salinity in the eastern grain belt of the Western Region.
Interacting combinations of sodicity and transient salinity, often associated with high subsoil pH, ion toxicities and poor subsoil structure, interact to constrain crop yields by reducing water extraction by crop roots. In the Western Region, approximately 2.5 million hectares of land in the eastern grain belt are affected by soil sodicity. Many growers attempt to profitability manage these constrained soils by opportunistically cropping them in better seasons or after fallow or by minimising costs and accepting lower productivity across all years.
This investment will evaluate the benefit of different options to improve water capture and availability, including water harvesting onto crop rows, targeted amelioration in the root zone and increasing soil water capacity, and determine the profitability and reliability of such approaches.
- Project start date:
- 01/02/2019
- Project end date:
- 31/12/2023
- Crop type:
-
- Wheat, (Cereal)
- Organisation
- Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
- Region:
- West
- Project status
- Completed
GRDC News
Closing yield gaps on sodic soils
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Soil amelioration strategies prove beneficial following an investment push to improve productivity on Australia’s large...
Closing yield gaps on sodic soils
1692108000000
Soil amelioration strategies prove beneficial following an investment push to improve productivity on Australia’s large...
Growers request footprint expansion for soils research
1657029600000
Demonstrating the agility of GRDC’s National Grower Network to respond to grower needs, research on...
Exploring the science of mineral mulch
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The potential of mineral mulches to reduce evaporation and increase crop yield on heavy sodic...
Precision gypsum placement provides hope for sodic...
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Exciting yield responses in trials in Western Australia’s eastern wheatbelt are changing the way researchers...
Resources
Paddock Practices: Whole package approach to soil constraints advised for Western Australia - GRDC
Significant research into western region soils has identified new best practice approaches to remedying an array of soil constraints.