Irrigated crops

In areas such as the Ord River Irrigation Area in northern Western Australia, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is working with industry in trialling new varieties and agronomic systems for both existing and potentially valuable new crops.

The main crops of current interest include the health food quinoa, rice which is showing considerable potential if disease and variety problems can be overcome, sugar cane which will be the basis of new developments on Ord Stage 2, and cotton which is based on genetically-modified varieties.

Articles

  • This page and attached reports are part of the assessments for expansion of Ord River Irrigation in Western Australia’s Kimberley region: the 6000 hectares of red loamy soils – the Cockatoo Sands –

  • Tropical agriculture on the Ord River in Western Australia's Kimberley region began in 1941.

  • The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is planning for the future of irrigated agriculture development in the Pilbara

  • Irrigation design and management affects performance, yield and quality of crops.  Irrigation design determines the efficiency and effectiveness of water use, and therefore influences the profitabi

  • IrrigateWA is an irrigation app that will assist with the implementation of correct irrigation scheduling for a variety of crops, regions and soil types in Western Australia.

  • Water movement patterns on the soil surface may not be a good guide to what is happening below the surface and can lead to inefficient irrigation.