Project Objectives:-

• review existing literature and expertise on revegetation on vertosols; 
• develop a database of germination requirements for native plant species commonly found on cotton farms;  
• determine the potential to use drones for revegetation on cotton farms;  
• determine methods to increase germination and establishment success of revegetation on cotton farms;  
• develop a cost–benefit analysis of different revegetation methods on cotton farms 

Background:-

Establishing native vegetation on vertosol soils in semi-arid climates presents a challenge. While natural regeneration is the most cost-effective form of revegetation, there may be a need for human intervention to speed up the process. Tubestock planting is expensive and labour intensive, and while broadcasting seed or direct drill seeding may be viable alternatives, few examples of successful tree seeding projects exist on cotton farms. However, the principals of crop production can be applied to tree planting and there is scope to develop successful revegetation strategies for cotton farms that don’t rely on planting tubestock. 

Floodplain species commonly occurring on cotton farms, including river red gums, coolibah, black box and river cooba require floods to recruit, but site preparation and planting on vertosols is impossible when soil moisture is high, and soils can be left vulnerable to erosion if prepared prior to a heavy rainfall. 

Revegetation is traditionally carried out either by hand or using tractors. Using drones is a novel approach to revegetation with the benefit of having no footprint on the ground, allowing growers to take advantage of ideal conditions for planting, such as when soil moisture is high following flooding or heavy rainfall that would normally exclude ground-based methods.