The Queensland Government has announced the launching of a new tool to assist irrigators calculate when and how much water their crops require.

 

The Scheduling Irrigation diary, released by South East Queensland Irrigation Futures, is a web-based software tool to assist in boosting water efficiency in the state.


“The tool uses real time rainfall, as well as evaporation data from the Bureau of Meteorology to determine soil moisture content and work out the water requirements of the crop,” Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps said. 

“Irrigators simply enter data such as soil types, crops, plant and harvest dates into the program which then determines when and how much to irrigate, up to a week in advance. 

“To have this knowledge ahead of time will enable irrigators to make better decisions and avoid over or under watering, thus saving both water and money. 

“Improving and refining irrigation scheduling on the farm is one of the keys to water use efficiency in agriculture and making good choices about water use is a focus of government and industry water use efficiency programs,’’ 

 

The tool has been developed by the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, based at the University of Southern Queensland. 

For further information or to set up a free account please visit the Scheduling Irrigation Diary at http://sid.usq.edu.au