Completed projects and reports

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Managing the plant protection aspects of the canelands rural/urban interface
(BSES, 1997) Hallett, SG; Harden, J; Cunningham, G
Australia is a highly urbanised country with an ever-increasing urban population. As the cities expand, they continue to encroach upon areas of rural land use. The result is a constantly moving interface between urban and rural land uses within which hazards may exist, and conflicts may arise. One particular source of hazard and conflict is the use, by rural industries, of pesticides for crop protection. Pesticide use by Australia’s rural industries is an extremely emotive issue, and the public’s perceptions are, in general, strongly negative. These perceptions are often fuelled by misinformation and exaggeration by the popular press, but irrespective of the cause, they promote mistrust and conflict between rural and urban land users in the rural/urban interface. It is important to provide an easily accessible resource which will provide accurate information to all members of the rural/urban interface so that the pesticide hazards can be accurately decribed and reduced and then conflicts can be resolved. The assessment of pesticide hazards is too complex for the lay person since there are so many interacting factors which may increase or reduce risk. Using a sufficiently complex computer model, it will be possible to allow relatively unskilled personnel to assess pesticide hazards for any given scenario. The various factors contributing to pesticide hazard are as follows:- i) The pesticide used - particularly toxicity, and formulation. ii) The method of application - including the equipment, the nozzles used, and the release height. iii) The weather conditions - particularly wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, and rain fall. iv) The proximity and density of the human population - including presence of schools, hospitals, and other community centres. v) The presence of barriers to drift of pesticide droplets - including shadehouses and vegetative buffer zones. vi) The site characteristics - including the soil type, the slope and the depth of the water table. Hazard Score is a computer-based decision-support system designed to assess pesticide hazards in the rural/urban interface. It is a user-friendly package written in Microsoft “Access”. It consists of three main components:- i) the Hazard Score programme, ii) the Hazard Score manual, and iii) a database of relevant plant protection literature. The three components are inter-linked, such that the user, performing specific calculations can refer to both general and detailed information on the subject and find relevant supporting literature.
Investment analyses for the Managing Climate Variability Program
(2007) Agtrans Research and Consulting; AGEC Consulting
The Managing Climate Variability Program (MCVP) managed by Land and Water Australia (LWA) is scheduled to be completed by June 2007. In accord with LWA policy, the impact of the program required assessment and the impacts subjected to a cost benefit analysis (CBA). At the same time, prospective analyses were required to demonstrate potential benefits from new investment in a second phase of MCVP that would commence later in 2007. Four impact analyses were carried out, all including a cost benefit analysis. The first two were analyses of historical investments. The second two were prospective investments that could be considered for future investment by MCVP. The four analyses were: 1. Investment Performance of the Managing Climate Variability Program 2. Example of Analysis of a Natural Resource Management Impact 3. Prospective Analysis of Increased Forecast Skill 4. Prospective Analysis of Further Investment in Yield Prophet Assumptions for valuing benefits were made in a consistently conservative manner in all four analyses. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for those variables that were thought to be uncertain or key drivers of the investment criteria. Ratings were given to the confidence in each analysis. The ratings included one for the coverage of benefits and a second for the degree of certainty in the assumptions.
National Program for Sustainable Irrigation
(2010)
The National Program for Sustainable Irrigation was a unique collaboration as it involved governments, irrigators, water providers and researchers from across Australia. It covered every aspect of irrigation from dam management and water delivery, through on-farm management, to sustainable landscape environmental measures. The program has contributed to; • major increases in the efficiency and productivity of irrigation water, • significant reductions in salinity to the Murray Darling Rivers, • greater knowledge and technical capacity of irrigators and irrigation professionals. NPSI partners invested $5.2 million between 2006 - 2012, which led to an additional $6.5 million of co-investments in projects. Benefit cost ratios from investments in irrigation research consistently have been high, between 7 and 14 to one. Equally important have been environmental benefits and human capacity building. In total, 42% of funds were invested in projects that have increased knowledge, 37% that increased efficiency and 21% of invested funds have delivered a demonstrable industry economic impact. Tangible benefits to irrigators have resulted due to improved knowledge of water use efficiency benchmarks and tools, the ability to quantify water losses and better management strategies being put into practice. NPSI has been active in building improved skills, knowledge and decision making of end users via workshops, training events and publications. NPSI played a collaborative role in feeding information from research through to extension networks and sales/technical representatives, then on to the farm. The flagship publication “Irrigation Essentials” provides a snapshot of the latest NPSI research and development that is improving technology, enabling the sharing of knowledge and practice change across all agricultural commodities and horticultural industries. It provides case studies that demonstrate how research and good ideas may be adopted and provides sources of additional information on key topics. Sixty individual case studies have been published. The economic pay off from NPSI II was estimated to deliver at least $13.7m (present value terms) to the Australian economy. Against a total NPSI II investment of $9.1m (present value terms) this represents a positive pay off on funds invested. The net present value was estimated at $4.6m which represents a return of $1.50 on every dollar invested in NPSI II. If benefits are only compared against the cost of projects that have delivered an economic benefit (21% of total costs) the return would be $7.20 for every dollar invested across those projects. The program commissioned an external evaluation of its operations in 2011

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