Evaluation of Sorghum in Western Australia
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2003
Conference Title
Solutions for a better environment
Place of Publication
Geelong
ISBN
0-9750313-0-9
Keywords
Sorghum, Water use, Dry matter, Yield, APSIM, Western Australia
Disciplines
Agribusiness | Agricultural Economics | Agricultural Science | Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Climate | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring | Food Security | Fresh Water Studies | Hydrology | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Plant Biology | Soil Science | Water Resource Management
Abstract
Proceedings of the 11th Australian Agronomy Conference, 2-6 February 2003, Geelong, Victoria.
Crop Agronomy - Warm Season - (Contributed Papers).
The Australian Society of Agronomy Inc.
The WA wheatbelt has winter dominant rainfall but in some regions, up to 37% of average annual rainfall can fall outside the traditional May to October growing season. By using out of season rainfall and subsoil moisture, forage or grain sorghum is being investigated as an option that may prevent or reduce winter waterlogging and groundwater rise. Eight sites were monitored for sorghum growth and water use throughout WA while the crop growth model APSIM was used to evaluate the opportunities for sowing sorghum at the Scaddan site given historical rainfall records. This study found that the water use of sorghum echoes rainfall during the growing season, although occasionally water use can be substantially higher. Grain production is risky due to variable summer rainfall distribution while forages are a safer alternative with APSIM predicting commercial levels of production attainable in many years if sowing is complete by end December. Evaluation of sorghum and other warm season crops for WA continues.
Recommended Citation
“Solutions for a better environment”. Edited by Murray Unkovich and Garry O’Leary. Proceedings of the 11th Australian Agronomy Conference, 2-6 February 2003, Geelong, Victoria.
