SCRIME: Sustainable Cropping Rotations in Mediterranean Environments
Objectives
To provide information that enables farmers to select a farming system(s) for the Wimmera in terms of its effect on:
1. The soil resource (chemical, physical and biological fertility).
2. Financial performance (short and long-term) of the whole farm enterprise.
3. Pest (weed and insect) and disease management.
Key activities in current program
The treatments are designed to help provide specific information about specific practices eg. green manuring on subsequent crops, rather than aiming to mimic exact rotations used by farmers in the region (which vary from farm to farm and year to year) (Table 1). The design also represents a balance between the need for scientific rigour eg. having a test-crop (wheat) common to all treatments and relevance to both current and potential future farming practises.
There is a 3-phase rotation, with all treatments replicated each year three times, except T8 and 9, which are 6 phase rotations (compared with two 3 year phases). T10 is a ‘farmer driven’ treatment (WCFA consulted) based on opportunity cropping taking account of when season break occurs, current commodity prices and results of disease diagnostic tests. Pulse treatments are rotated every 3 years so that don’t have any one pulse species closer than every 6 years. Main pulses for first phase (1998 – 2000) are field peas and secondary pulse is lentils. These will be replaced with faba beans and ascochyta resistant chickpeas in next phase.
© The State of Victoria, 1996 - 2008.
This document was last reviewed on 24/09/2008