4610.0.55.008 - Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production, 2010-11 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/12/2012   
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VOLUME OF WATER APPLIED

  • In 2010-11, the total volume of water applied for irrigation in Australia was 6.6 million megalitres (ML). The three commodities in Australia using the highest irrigation volume were cotton, which used 1.9 million ML, pasture for grazing using 1.2 million ML and rice using 766,000 ML for irrigation.
  • In the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) region, the total volume of irrigation water applied in 2010-11 was 4.5 million ML, which was 68% of the total volume of irrigation water applied in Australia. The commodities with the highest volume of irrigated water applied in the MDB were cotton with 1.8 million ML, rice with 755,000 ML and pasture for grazing using 602,000 ML.
  • Cotton was the commodity with the largest volume of irrigation in New South Wales (1.1 million ML) and Queensland (808,000 million ML). Livestock grazing was the main irrigated crop in Victoria applying 607,000 ML, South Australia applying 150,000 ML and Tasmania applying 85,000 ML in 2010-11. In the Northern Territory in 2010-11, fruit was the highest irrigated crop with 11,500 ML of irrigated water being applied, while in the Australian Capital Territory, nursery production was the highest irrigated, receiving 127 ML of irrigation water.
Graph Image for Volume of Water Applied, 2010-11(a)

Footnote(s): (a) Data reported as zero value may not be available for publication. See data cubes for further information.

Source(s): Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production