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September 10, 2003
Australian
cotton growers are set to build on their water saving efforts by
managing their irrigation water use better through a new
software package called
HydroLOGIC.
Developed by
CSIRO Plant Industry and the
Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre, HydroLOGIC will
be released next week to help cotton growers explore different
irrigation strategies for their cotton crops to optimise water
use and yield.
"Compared to
other cotton producing countries Australian cotton growers are
already at the forefront of water use efficiency and can build
on that success with this software," says HydroLOGIC support
scientist, Mr Dirk Richards of CSIRO Plant Industry.
HydroLOGIC
uses 'OZCOT', a cotton software model developed from rigorous
scientific research by scientists and software developers at the
CSIRO Cotton Research Unit.
"Water
consumption in cotton crops depends on irrigation techniques,
soil type, crop management, rainfall and evaporation," says Mr
Richards.
"Growers using
HydroLOGIC can make more informed decisions on the timing of
irrigations, accounting for local climate and irrigation
allocations - allowing them to improve water use efficiency."
Cotton growers
use HydroLOGIC during the growing season by entering information
on current weather, soil moisture deficit (determined through
existing soil moisture monitoring equipment), fruit load and
leaf area. HydroLOGIC then uses this information with long term
climate data to provide feedback on the optimum date of future
irrigations.
"HydroLOGIC
can also investigate the effects of different irrigation
scheduling strategies on yield - asking questions like 'what if
I delay this irrigation' - to balance yield potential with water
availability," says Mr Richards.
"By making the
most of available irrigation water, through using HydroLOGIC, we
hope cotton growers will be able to maintain their cotton
production and save water."
Training for
cotton growers to use HydroLOGIC will be provided in September
2003.
HydroLOGIC has
been developed by CSIRO Plant Industry and the Australian Cotton
CRC with partial financial support from the Cotton Research and
Development Corporation. For a free copy of HydroLOGIC and more
information please visit
www.csiro.au/hydrologic. |
