Increasing water productivity in irrigated rice systems in Australia: institutions and policies
2003
Humphreys, E. | Robinson, D.
Australian irrigation farmers, and rice growers in particular, are under tremendous pressure to increase water-use efficiency and water productivity. A host of institutions, programs, and policies, often interrelated, affect water availability and price, which drive the need to increase the water productivity of rice-based systems, and irrigated agriculture in general. These are driven by environmental and National Competition Policy agendas at the national, state, and local irrigation area levels. This paper outlines the various institutional and policy drivers that affect water productivity for rice-based cropping systems in Australia, with examples from the Murrumbidgee and Murray valleys. In addition to generic policies, for many years rice cultivation has been subjected to a range of environmental restrictions designed to reduce deep percolation and water-table rise, and increased water productivity has been an implicit outcome of these regulations. However, yield increases from improved varieties and management have been the main causes of increased field-level water productivity of rice.
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