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Productivity and water use of grazed subsurface drip irrigated perennial pasture in Australia

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Abstract

Dairy farmers in the southern Murray–Darling (M–DB) of Australia are considering subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) for pasture production in response to reduced water supply. Use of SDI in pasture production is a significant departure from previous SDI knowledge because in pasture irrigation (1) uniform moisture, nutrients and pasture growth is sought across the full paddock width, (2) the pasture is grazed by dairy cattle, and (3) is grown on duplex soils with distinctive hydraulic behaviour. A field experiment was conducted on two dairy farms with contrasting subsoil hydraulic characteristics to investigate the impact of SDI design (tape spacing) and operation (irrigation frequency) on pasture productivity and hydrology under grazed conditions. Treatments comprising of tape spacing (0.6, 1.0 and 1.4 m) and irrigation frequency (D or 4D) were imposed. SDI successfully supported contiguous perennial pasture under grazing during a period of drought. The impact of SDI design and operation on pasture accumulation and its spatial variability differed strongly between sites, reflecting soil hydraulic characteristics. Pasture composition and irrigation efficiency were insensitive to SDI design and operation at both sites. Water balance analysis indicated that deep percolation was the main pathway for water loss in SDI pasture production, though the dominance of this over surface runoff will be influenced by soil hydraulic properties. SDI can support grazed pasture production on the duplex soils of the southern M–DB; however, its performance may be insufficient to offset the high economic cost of SDI technology.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the financial support of Dairy Australia, the Department of Environment and Primary Industries, and Murray Dairy. We thank Mr. Peter Clayton and Mr. Tony Cook for their technical support, Dr. David Robertson (now at CSIRO) and Dr. Kevin Kelly for their valuable technical advice and Mr. Sorn Norng and Dr. Subhash Chandra for biometric support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment and Primary Industries, PO Box 4166, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia

    Lucy Finger

  2. CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, PO Box 56, Highett, VIC, 3190, Australia

    Q. J. Wang

  3. Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Hector Malano

  4. Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Deli Chen

  5. Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Private Bag 1, Tatura, VIC, 3616, Australia

    Michael Morris

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  1. Lucy Finger
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  2. Q. J. Wang
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  3. Hector Malano
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  4. Deli Chen
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  5. Michael Morris
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Correspondence to Lucy Finger.

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Communicated by R. Stirzaker.

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Finger, L., Wang, Q.J., Malano, H. et al. Productivity and water use of grazed subsurface drip irrigated perennial pasture in Australia. Irrig Sci 33, 141–152 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-014-0454-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-014-0454-0

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