Long-term assessment of management options for water repellent sandy gravel soils

2015
CC BY 4.0

Research organisatons
Funding sources

Trial details

Researcher(s) Giacomo Betti (DAFWA)
Stephen Davies (DAFWA)
Liam Harte (DAFWA)
Year(s) 2015
Contributor West Midlands Group
Trial location(s) Badgingarra, WA
Long-term assessment of management options for water repellent sandy gravel soils locations
Aims

To identify suitable options for managing soil water repellence on sandy gravels.

Key messages

This first year study has shown that the adoption of a strategic tillage practice (one-way plough) provided a significant improvement in terms of crop establishment and grain yields on a moderately repellent sandy gravel. The adoption of other agronomic options, such as paired-row sowing or wetters, in this instance did not provide any noticeable improvement in comparison to the control treatments. In fact, in one case (wetter 1), the cost of the treatment was not covered by the yield increase.

Without doubt, the tillage proved to be the most effective treatment for reducing SWR but at this stage it is not possible to evaluate the extent to which this improvement alone contributed to the significant increase in yields.

With this long term experiment, we expect the following seasons to give us more information to better understand what changes drive the yield increase and possibly the potential longevity of these improvements.

Lead research organisation Department of Agriculture and Food WA
Host research organisation West Midlands Group
Trial funding source DAFWA
Trial funding source GRDC DAW00244
Related program N/A
Acknowledgments

This work was supported by DAFWA and GRDC (DAW00244: Delivering enhanced agronomic strategies for improved crop performance on water repellent soils in Western Australia). Thanks and appreciation to Graham and Helen Lethlean for hosting the trial site. Thanks to Ben and Sean Plozza for one-way ploughing and Trevor Bell and Greg Brown (DAFWA) for technical support.

 


Other trial partners Not specified
Download the trial report to view additional trial information

Method

Crop type Cereal (Grain): Wheat
Treatment type(s)
  • Management systems
  • Soil Improvement
Trial type Experimental
Trial design Replicated

Badgingarra 2015

Sow rate or Target density 75kg/ha
Sowing machinery

Cone seeder, Modified one-way plough.

Sow date 28 May 2015
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size 2m x 10m
Plot replication 4
Psuedoreplication Not specified
Fertiliser

80 kg/ha of Agstar extra (28/05/15) and 50 L/ha of UAN (23/06/15).

Herbicide

150 g/ha of Sakura (28/05/15), 0.4 L/ha of MCPA 600 LVE (08/07/15) and 800 ml/ha of Velocity (08/07/15).

Insecticide

200 ml/ha of Lorsban (28/05/15) and 200 ml/ha of Dominex (28/05/15).

Download the trial report to view additional method/treatment information
Trial source data and summary not available
Check the trial report PDF for trial results.
Observed trial site soil information
Trial site soil testing
Not specified
Soil conditions
Trial site Soil texture
Badgingarra, WA Gravelly sand
Derived trial site soil information
Australian Soil Classification Source: ASRIS
Trial site Soil order
Badgingarra, WA Chromosol
Soil Moisture Source: BOM/ANU
Average amount of water stored in the soil profile during the year, estimated by the OzWALD model-data fusion system.
Year Badgingarra WA
2015 177.3mm
2014 195.3mm
2013 226.0mm
2012 218.2mm
2011 190.5mm
2010 180.8mm
2009 194.9mm
2008 193.0mm
2007 144.3mm
2006 157.3mm
2005 186.8mm
2004 160.7mm
2003 184.7mm
2002 166.4mm
2001 171.1mm
2000 203.0mm
National soil grid Source: CSIRO/TERN
NOTE: National Soil Grid data is aggregated information for background information on the wider area
Actual soil values can vary significantly in a small area and the trial soil tests are the most relevant data where available

Soil properties

Loading

Climate

Badgingarra WA 2015


Observed climate information

Rainfall trial gsr (mm) 334mm

Derived climate information

Badgingarra WA

Loading
Loading
Loading

Some data on this site is sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology

SILO weather estimates sourced from https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/
Jeffrey, S.J., Carter, J.O., Moodie, K.B. and Beswick, A.R. (2001). Using spatial interpolation to construct a comprehensive archive of Australian climate data , Environmental Modelling and Software, Vol 16/4, pp 309-330. DOI: 10.1016/S1364-8152(01)00008-1.

Trial report and links

2015 trial report



Trial last modified: 23-07-2019 14:13pm AEST