This innovative project has supported Burdekin cane growers in dramatically reducing fertiliser use whilst maintaining yield.
Home / Sustainable Agriculture / 2016 - 2022Reef Trust Pilot & Repeat Tenders ($18M)
Between 2016 and 2018, the Reef Trust Tender – Burdekin (pilot project) resulted in 702 tonnes less nitrogen (N) being applied to 16 farms, covering a total area of 5,890 hectares. This represents on average a 20 per cent reduction in fertiliser applied and cost savings to growers of $46/ha per year. An additional 35 growers were contracted to make N reductions during 2017-2022 in the Repeated Tenders.
Natural Resource Management group NQ Dry Tropics delivered the $3.1 million pilot project, funded by the Australian Government and delivered through the Reef Trust. In 2017, following one year of successes in the pilot round, a further $7.1 million was invested in three rounds of the Reef Trust Repeated Tenders.
An additional 35 growers were contracted to make a further 757 tonnes of N reductions during the 2017-2022 period.
Under the project, growers proposed trialling ways to reduce fertiliser use, and put a price on the cost of making the change. Trials included matching fertiliser inputs to crop requirements and using technology to only apply fertiliser precisely where it was needed. Participating growers received grant payments to mitigate the perceived risk of lower cane yields from reducing nitrogen application rates.