PASTURES AND CROPS IRRIGATED
Australia
Australian agricultural businesses applied 1% more irrigation water to agricultural land in 2009-10 than in the previous year. However, the area irrigated also increased, by 5%, to 1.8 million hectares. As a result, the application rate decreased from 3.7 ML/ha to 3.6 ML/ha.
Pasture for grazing accounted for the greatest amount of irrigated land (542,000 hectares) in Australia in 2009-10, with the volume of irrigation water applied representing 26% of the national total.
All crop types recorded increases in area watered except cereal crops for grain or seed, and grapevines. Pasture and cereal crops for grazing, hay and silage rose by 33% for area and 26% for volume applied, from the historic low of 2008-09. Increased water availability saw the area of rice watered increase by 163%, but still well down on the high of 2005-06.
State/Territory
Cotton and cereal crops for grain or seed were the main users of irrigation water in New South Wales in 2009-10, accounting for 863 gigalitres of irrigation water, or 43% of all irrigation water in the state.
In Victoria, the main use of irrigation water was pasture for grazing (798 gigalitres), using over half (53%) of all irrigation water used in the state. Other major irrigation water uses were fruit trees, nut trees, plantation or berry fruits (260 gigalitres), and grapevines (155 gigalitres).
In Queensland, the use of irrigation water for cotton, the most heavily irrigated crop, decreased by 8% between 2008-09 and 2009-10, to 883 gigalitres. The area of pastures and crops irrigated, however, increased by 2% to 73,000 gigalitres.The application rate during this time declined from 5.8 ML/ha to 5.2 ML/ha.
Pasture for grazing (214 gigalitres) replaced grapvines for the largest irrigation water use in South Australia in 2009-10 (30% of irrigation water in the state). Approximately 46,000 hectares of pasture for grazing were irrigated at 4.7 ML/ha.
In Western Australia, pasture for grazing used over 89 gigalitres, or 35% of all irrigation water in the state. Vegetables for human consumption used another 20%, and fruit trees, nut trees, plantation or berry fruits consumed a further 14%.
In 2009-10, 59% of irrigation water in Tasmania was used on pasture for grazing, accounting for 165 gigalitres. Vegetables and broadacre crops were also primary uses for irrigation.
Irrigation of fruit trees, nut trees, plantation fruit or berries, the main crop irrigated in the Northern Territory, decreased from 10 gigalitres in 2008-09, to 8 gigalitres in 2009-10, a decline of 16%.
Murray-Darling Basin
In 2009-10 the volume of water applied to agricultural land in the Murray-Darling Basin increased by 2% on 2008-09 levels. The area of agricultural land irrigated in the Basin also increased, to 976,000 hectares, up 5% from 2008-09. This is the first increase in area of agricultural land irrigated in the Murray-Darling basin since 2005-06.
Approximately 90% of Australia's cotton growers were located in the Murray-Darling Basin in 2009-10, irrigating 10,000 hectares less land than in 2008-09 (down by 7%). In 2009-10, cotton accounted for the highest proportion of irrigation water used in the Murray-Darling Basin (764 gigalitres or 21%) down by 4% since 2008-09. Other primary uses for irrigation water in the Murray-Darlin Basin were pasture for grazing (20%) and other cereals for grain or seed (13%).
Irrigation water use outside the Murray-Darling Basin remained steady in 2009-10, with the area irrigated increasing 4%. During the period 2005-06 to 2009-10, irrigation water use outside the Murray-Darling Basin fell by 10% and the area irrigated fell by 3%.
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