Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase 2 (SIP2)

Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase 2 is a partnership between the major irrigation industries of cotton, dairy, sugar, rice and grains, research organisations and farmer groups. This project builds on Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase 1 which enabled valuable research in areas including irrigation system audits, irrigation scheduling, new technology, system design and water use efficiency. Phase 1 demonstrated that improved water productivity hinged on ‘Getting the Basics Right’. It found that participating Australian irrigators could achieve a 10-20 percent improvement in farm profitability by adopting best practice and precision irrigation technologies.

An essential part of Smarter Irrigation for Profit is the commercial optimised irrigation sites across Australia. These sites provide an opportunity for researchers, consultants, producers and industry support staff to share knowledge, see how irrigation technology can be applied and collaborate across industries through field walks and field days.

Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase 2 has 14 sub-projects looking at:

·    New and innovative irrigation technologies.

·    Cost effective, practical automated irrigation systems and

·    The application of best practice irrigation techniques.

The objective of SIP2 is to improve the profit of over 4000 cotton, dairy, rice, grains and sugar irrigators.