DELIVERING NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES TO GROWERS IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE AUSTRALIAN SUGAR INDUSTRY

MODIFICATION of the traditional nutrient management guidelines for sugarcane production in Australia has been in progress for the past 10 years. The need for change occurred with a realisation that nutrient management needed to be focused on sustainable sugarcane production rather than targeting sugarcane yield per se. The process has allowed the generalised nutrient recommendations (which were used across regions and soils) to be fine-tuned into sets of soilspecific nutrient management guidelines for use at district level within the sugar industry. This has occurred through a specifically developed framework that consists of several consecutive steps. As a result of this framework, modified guidelines for different districts were developed using a combination of soil reference site data, a re-analysis of information from past trials, local historical commercial soil analysis data and the results of specifically conducted pot and field experiments. Criteria used within the modified guidelines include a nitrogen mineralisation index, phosphorus buffer index (PBI) and different potassium critical values according to clay content. These guidelines are being validated using on-going replicated field trials. The modified guidelines are being promoted through the preparation of district-specific soil reference and nutrient management booklets, and a training program pitched at three levels— presentations at grower/shed meetings, introductory short courses and more intensive two-day workshops. A series of on-farm strip trials using grower participation has been established to demonstrate the advantages of the modified system. This paper uses case studies from the Proserpine, Plane Creek and Mackay districts to illustrate the process being followed in the Central Region.