Soil health and nutrient management
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://elibrary2.sugarresearch.com.au/handle/11079/13842
Research outcomes: Soil health is improved with a resulting positive impact on the environment and yield growth. Improved reputation and relationship between industry and environmental groups.
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Item A reference booklet for canegrowers on the nutrition and fertilizing of sugarcane for different soil types(2003) Wood, AW; Schroeder, BL; Stewart, RL; Roth, CHA wide range of different soils are used for sugarcane production in the Herbert River district. An understanding of these differences both at district and farm levels will ensure that nutrient management reflects this diversity and enables profitable and sustainable sugarcane production. The Australian sugar industry has used a generalised, industry-wide set of fertiliser recommendations with no specific guidelines for different regions, climatic conditions or soil types. This booklet is a first attempt to produce specific management guidelines for all of the different soil types used for sugarcane production in a cane area. Twenty four different soil types have been identified in the sugarcane production area of the Herbert and have been mapped at a scale of 1:5000, which is appropriate for soil-specific management recommendations to be delivered at block level. Growers can currently access soil maps of their farms through Herbert Cane productivity Services Ltd. and plans are in place to provide all growers with the capability of printing their own soil maps. In the booklet each soil type is described in terms of its appearance, where it occurs in the landscape, and its chemical and physical properties. Guidelines for the management of nutrients, tillage, drainage and irrigation and the minimisation of environmental risks are provided for each soil type. These guidelines have been developed using research results from a companion SRDC funded project, BSS232 “Improved nutrient management in the Australian Sugar Industry”. The soil booklet produced in this project is likely to be the first of a number of regional soil management publications that are likely to be produced for the Australian Sugar Industry. The booklet is intended for use by cane growers and their advisers, and where possible the information is presented in as non-technical way as possible. This approach is particularly appropriate for the current situation of the sugar industry with continuing low sugar prices, the need to reduce production costs together with mounting environmental pressures which demand demonstration of responsible soil and nutrient management. The guidelines in this booklet are aimed at providing best practice soil and nutrient management for Herbert growers that will not only maintain or improve crop yields and soil fertility but will also provide opportunities for cost reduction whilst enhancing sustainability and delivering better environmental outcomes.Item Risk assessment of phosphorus (P) loss and guidelines for P use in lower Herbert soils Final report on SRDC Project No CLW010(2000) Bramley, RGV; Wood, AWIn project CSS3S (Bramley et aI., 1998), a field and laboratory-based survey of the behaviour of phosphorus (P) was carried out on the soils of the lower Herbert River catchment, and sediments derived from them. The aim was to explore the factors governing P sorption or desorption in Herbert soils, and in suspended sediments in associated riverine and estuarine waters, so that the extent of any problem associated with sugarcane and soil-derived inputs to strearnwaters could be defined and advice on the development of best management practices for P fertilizer could be provided. Accordingly, an assessment of the risk of P loss from selected lower Herbert soils was made based on their P sorption characteristics and an assessment of the susceptibility of the lower Herbert soils to runoff following rainfall events. One of the recommendations made at the conclusion of CSS3S was that "spatial analysis of the assessment of P desorption risk based on digital maps of the CSR soil survey would enable more precise guidelines for better P management to be derived.". Following the recent availability of the CSR 1:5,000 soil survey in geo-referenced digital form, this report details the results of the suggested spatial analysis. Nine hundred and thirty four soils for which detailed soil property data are available in the database accompanying the 1:5,000 CSR survey of lower Herbert sugarcane soils were classified according to a range of indices of P sorption and the results mapped using either a geostatistical interpolation routine (kriging) or the mean values for each soil type identified in field survey. The results were coupled with an analysis of the susceptibility of these soils to runoff to produce maps of the potential for P loss.