Darling Irrigation's successful workshop on the benefits of drip irrigation

Drip irrigation and its possibilities was the topic of the day at a recent drip irrigation workshop.

Above (l-r): Irrigations Advisory Officer Garry Giddings, Stewart Crawford ‘Quandong’ Narromine, Jerrod Shields of Darling Irrigation Narromine and Netafim NSW State Sales Manager Wayne Ingram.

Darling Irrigation Narromine customer service manager Jerrod Shields said the workshop was a chance to share information on different irrigation techniques.

“It’s about providing good, effective, information for people to go back home and look at their scenario and make an informed decision with the tools and information about whether it is right for them,” Mr Shields said.

Mr Shields said some of the benefits of drip irrigation included water savings. “Another is reduced labour but probably more so is the yields you can get,” he said. “Growers can get a much higher yield than on any other system.”

Stewart Crawford of ‘Quandong’ Narromine was an early supporter of drip irrigation in the Macquarie Valley after seeing it in operation on a trip to the USA.  He began researching the technology in the late 1990s before installing 50 hectares in 1997. “We learnt from that and now have 175ha under drip,” he said.

He said information on drip irrigations was now much easier to obtain on with more around. “It’s a medium to grow very high yield crop,” Mr Crawford said. “There is so much control with water and fertiliser; you can really get a good crop.”

He advised those considering the switch to design with maintenance and upkeep in mind.

He said if maintaining the unit is more convenient, you are more likely to remain on top of it, leading to the longevity of the unit.

Mr Crawford said some of the benefits of drip irrigation came from their relation with fertigation. “Exciting things are happening in fertigation and drippers are a fantastic medium of getting those out,” he said.

Irrigation Advisory officer with Industry and Investment NSW Garry Giddings said that irrigators were interested in learning about all their options, with other recent field days on lateral movement and pivot irrigation. “People are just after as much information as they can on what technology is available,” Mr Giddings said. He also said there is a possibility that funding may be coming from the Water for the Future funding to look at improving efficiencies.

There is a current pilot project in place in the Gwydir Valley offering incentives to irrigators, and the success of that could lead to similar incentive programs in the Macquarie Valley.

Reproduced from Western Magazine, 14 December 2009