BMP Border Rivers

Date Issued:2012-05-31

Abstract

BMP Border Rivers was a collaboration between the projects High Yielding Wheat in Cotton Farming Systems, and PhD Brendan Griffiths, and the private consultancy Griffiths Agriculture to extend research pertaining to the development of a system of achieving high yielding wheat in cotton farming systems in the Border Rivers region of Northern NSW, and Southern Queensland.Originally designed to implement practices from Southern irrigated farming systems, the project team very early in the project realised that these practices would not be directly applicable to a northern farming system, principally as a result of the interaction between crop physiology, and the obvious climatic differences, being a milder start to the season, and a hotter, shorter finish to the growing season. As such the project team set about developing a system that would be directly applicable to the northern irrigated cropping system, and environment, with very good success.Yields achieved at the start of the project, using methods developed in the southern high yielding grains projects, were rarely in excess of 6 t/ha. There were also associated issues with respects to crop physiology and grain quality. By the end of the project, experimental yields in excess of 9t/ha were able to be achieved, using improved methods of managing crop canopy, and other agronomic methods to manipulate various components of crop physiology, with the view of maximising yields, and minimising lodging and the associated grain quality problems.Throughout the course of the project a field demonstration site, displaying the research and methods discovered in the High Yielding Grains in Cotton Farming Systems and in PhD Brendan Griffiths projects, was set up in each year of the project. There were two field walks conducted at this site in each year of the project attracting relevant interested industry personnel interested in the development of best practice guidelines for the consistent achievement of high yielding wheats in a cotton farming system.A publication titled ''Irrigated Wheat- Best Practice Guidelines in Cotton Farming Systems'' was generated as part of the project outlining a system that will moreconsistently allow producers in the northern growing region of NSW, and Southern Queensland, the ability to achieve high yielding, high quality wheats in an irrigated cotton farming system.

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