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Abstract
Sugar cane farms are the single biggest user of irrigation water in
Queensland. Recent drought and unreliable rainfall patterns in areas
traditionally reliant on rainfall for crop production has resulted in increasing
interest in, and adoption of supplementary irrigation to help underpin
production. As a result, demand for irrigation water now exceeds supply from
surface and underground sources and growers who are not able to access
irrigation schemes are considering other water supply alternatives. A simple
spreadsheet model has been developed to accept simulated crop yield and
irrigation application data from APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems
Simulation Model) and evaluate investment options in on-farm water storage
and reticulation. The analysis indicates that growers should consider the
construction of on-farm water storages as a viable source of irrigation water.