Transfer of information to users
There were many opportunities during the year to transfer information to users.
These meetings were held throughout the rice areas in August and September. Participants included Dr Craig Russell (Project 2101) and Mr Rob Williams (Project 2201).
The annual Rice Field Day was held at the McCaughey Memorial Institute, Jerilderie in March 2000. It was attended by more than 300 people and provided an important opportunity to disseminate research findings to rice producers. Participants who presented CRC research at the field day included Dr Liz Humphreys (Projects 1205 and 1206), Mr Saud Akbar (1104), Mr Geoff Beecher (1102), Dr Craig Russell (2101), Ms Sarah Spackman (2102), Mr Tim Farrell (2201), Ms Anthea Lisle and Ms Helen Shead (3402) and Mr Darryl Hill and Ms Nicole McQuillan (4101). The participants in the "Chairman's Tour" (a rice information tour for CRC participants) also attended the field day and were able to interact with producers.
The Rice CRC display at the Murrumbidgee Farm Fair in May also provided a good opportunity for interaction with rice producers and the general community. Those who participated included Dr Laurie Lewin (Director), Mr Michael Cook (Communications Officer), Mrs Robyn Troldahl (Education Officer), Dr Graeme Batten (Program 2), Mr Andrew Sanderson (Sub-Program 5.1), Dr Fei Zhou (Project 1201), Mr Phillip Williams (Sub-Program 4.5), Dr Shahbaz Khan (1201, 1403), Ms Louisa Best (1403) and Dr Melissa Fitzgerald (3401).
Irrigation companies are an important conduit for environmental management as they are often responsible for environmental monitoring and Land and Water Management Plan implementation. Rice CRC interaction with these organisations is therefore of importance.
Discussions regarding use of sodicity within the rice land suitability assessment procedure have been undertaken with Murray Irrigation Limited, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited, Coleambally Irrigation Corporation and Jemalong Irrigation Limited (Project 1102).
Dr Shahbaz Khan and Mr John Madden presented the net recharge management education module to several groups of farmers in the Coleambally Irrigation Area. Dr Shahbaz Khan, Mr John Madden, Dr Emmanuel Xevi and Dr Fei Zhou trained several Coleambally Irrigation staff in the use and implementation of the SWAGMAN Farm model (1201).
Drs Shahbaz Khan and Evan Christen gave presentations to groups of farmers in the Coleambally Irrigation Area on groundwater management aspects.
The first steering committee meeting for Project 1403 was held and included representatives of Murray Irrigation Limited, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited, Coleambally Irrigation Corporation, Goulburn-Murray Water and NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation.
Project 1303 is contained within a larger CSIRO program seeking to develop enzymatic bioremediation technologies for several pesticides. Results of the larger program are licensed to our collaborator, Orica Australia Pty Ltd. Orica Ltd has a large watercare business. Research and development on the project at Orica Ltd focuses on production, formulation and implementation issues. Good progress is being made in these areas and discussions are underway with relevant regulatory bodies to determine the appropriate approvals for field testing the enzymes.
Project 6201, "Economic evaluation of alternative resource management strategies in a risky environment" commenced this year. The objective of this project is to evaluate a selection of Rice CRC research and extension projects against economic and physical dimensions of sustainability. The project will involve analysing the impact of these selected CRC technologies at the farm and regional levels. This will identify changes in farm and regional incomes and changes in physical dimensions of sustainability such as soil and water salinity, and watertable depths.
The project involves assessing the economic consequences of the following CRC projects:-
A large part of the process for achieving the objectives of this project has involved the convening of workshops with research staff and end users such as agronomists, economists, farmers, industry organisations and irrigation companies to collect and collate information and seek feedback.
These meetings provide an important opportunity for interaction with users. Those meetings to fulfil this function included many important Program 1 gatherings.
An update on project activities, findings and future plans was provided at a large Program 1 meeting on 14-15 December, 1999. In addition to Rice CRC researchers, the meeting participants included several rice growers, extension personnel, irrigation area Land and Water Management Plan implementers, non-CRC researchers with related interests (local, other regions, international) and representatives from the Environment Protection Authority and the Murray-Darling Basin Commission.
Mr Ary Van der Lely and Mr Geoff Beecher organised a workshop to scope future research needs and priorities for salinity research. Participants included researchers from a range of organisations and locations and stakeholder representatives from Murray Irrigation Limited, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited, Coleambally Irrigation Corporation and the Ricegrowers' Association of Australia Ltd.
Mr Ary Van der Lely organised a salinity monitoring workshop for representatives of Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited, Coleambally Irrigation Corporation and Murray Irrigation Limited. The purpose of the workshop was to define procedures for monitoring and assessing soil salinity trends over space and time. Several CRC researchers (Beecher, Gill, Humphreys, Khan) contributed to this workshop.
A workshop was held on 14 June 2000 to scope water quality issues and research needs. A wide range of stakeholders had the opportunity to present the issues and needs to a wide range of Rice CRC and non-CRC researchers. Stakeholders included representatives of the three irrigation companies, environmental groups and government agencies.
The Rice CiRCle is the vehicle for internal communication but a sub-set of this, the Rice CRC Update, is mailed to every rice grower on a quarterly basis. This is an important vehicle for dissemination of information on the Rice CRC projects.
The Rice supplement to the Australian Grain Magazine has also been an important vehicle for transfer of information to users of the Rice CRC results. The Ricegrower supplement of the December 1999 issue was a particularly important summary of Rice CRC projects.
