Projects

Results: Australia’s largest research and development investment in a single land resource issue has dramatically increased landholders’ knowledge of costly dryland salinity.

In 2002, Land & Water Australia (LWA) estimated dryland salinity to cost Australian agriculture $287 million per annum in lost profits.

Recent evaluation of the LWA-led National Dryland Salinity Project (NDSP) by Agtrans Research and Consulting showed the legacy of the $68.5m, 10-year project was authoritative information on salinity.

Bobbie Brazil, LWA chair, said the project flagged solutions such as tree clearing, revegetation, greater use of deep-rooted perennial species, and engineering work.

“The national investment under NDSP was perhaps the largest investment in a single land resource issue during the last decade,” Ms Brazil said.

“The investment produced a high level of research outputs and significant knowledge concerning dryland salinity, particularly about its current and future potential impacts and costs,” she said.

“However, solutions that are economically viable for government and producers were proven to be varied, scarce and localised.”

Ms Brazil said the NDSP concluded localised, tailored solutions are the best means to addressing dryland salinity.

“Localised solutions included vegetation management such as the maintenance or regeneration of native vegetation, the use of perennial pasture species to control watertables, and selected drainage initiatives.

“Tailored solutions are proving to be more economic than widespread farming system changes.”

Research partners included: Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), National Land and Water Resources Audit (NLWRA), Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC), Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), CSIRO and the State governments of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, NSW and Queensland.

Other partners included the CRC for Plant Based Management of Dryland Salinity and the AWI-funded, LWA-managed Land, Water and Wool program.