Factors contributing to low application efficiency of furrow irrigation in the Bundaberg district

While furrow irrigation remains a popular irrigation method in the Bundaberg district, a combination of low water use efficiencies on a significant proportion of furrow irrigated farms, and a serious decline in available water for most farms, has given strong impetus to improving application efficiencies of this irrigation method. An SRDC-funded monitoring project based in the Millaquin/Qunaba CPPB area has identified the main operational contributors to low application efficiency in the Bundaberg district. Evaluation of data collected over two irrigation seasons using the irrigation simulation model SIRMOD, has provided practical, low-cost solutions to a majority of problems encountered. In most cases, manipulation and refinement of inflow rates and cut-off times raised application efficiencies substantially, and reduced deep intIltration and associated losses from excessive end-fill. The project demonstrated that monitoring of common operational factors such as inflow, advance rate and cut-off time, provides excellent information for evaluating irrigation efficiencies. Evaluation of monitoring data with the simulation model SIRMOD provided highly useful pointers to how application efficiencies could be improved. In a majority of instances, significant improvements were effected, or indicated, at nil 0, low cost.