Building Soil Function
Soil for Drought Resilience

Crop varieties for Dry Saline Land

This project tackles dry saline land challenges in the Mallee, focusing on crop selection, ground cover, and salinity tolerance.

  • Ground Cover is Crucial for Yield and Soil Health

    Maintaining more than 40% ground cover reduces soil evaporation, lowers salt accumulation, and improves crop yields in subsequent seasons. Summer residue retention is essential for mitigating salinity impacts on dry saline land.

  • Crop Selection Matters

    Oats and barley demonstrated strong performance on saline soils, while wheat and other cereals struggled in higher salinity areas. Selecting salt-tolerant crops is key to establishing and maintaining productivity in affected areas.

  • Diverse Strategies Improve Outcomes

    Combining opportunistic sowing after rainfall, salt-tolerant crop varieties, and permanent vegetation like saltbush for severely degraded areas can effectively manage salinity, protect soil, and sustain long-term farm productivity.

Project Overview

Reclaiming Saline Soils: Crop Trials and Management Innovations

Dry saline land poses significant challenges for crop establishment and productivity, especially in low-rainfall regions. This project aimed to identify effective crop varieties and management strategies to mitigate the effects of soil salinity. Trials conducted at Tickera and Wandearah assessed the performance of various crops, their salinity tolerance, and the impact of maintaining soil cover over multiple seasons. The research highlights the importance of ground cover, crop rotation, and selecting salt-tolerant species to restore and protect saline soils.

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  • Crop Tolerance and Performance

    At Tickera, oats had the highest yield (0.9 t/ha) in 2022, while barley and wheat performed better at Wandearah in 2023.
    Crops with higher ground cover in 2022 showed improved wheat yields in 2023, demonstrating the benefits of retained soil cover.

  • Soil Cover and Residual Effects

    Maintaining >40% ground cover reduced soil evaporation and salinity accumulation.
    Summer residue cover contributed to better soil conditions and higher yields in the following season.

  • Management Insights

    Barley and oats emerged as optimal cereal choices for DSL.
    Opportunistic sowing after early-season rainfall can reduce salinity and enable more diverse crop rotations.
    For severely saline areas, saltbush or other salt-tolerant perennial plants were recommended for long-term remediation.

Next Steps

Further research is needed to refine crop recommendations across varied seasonal conditions. Future trials will focus on:

Enhancing crop diversity in rotations for disease management and soil health.
Developing practical guidelines for large-scale saline land remediation using salt-tolerant crops and permanent vegetation.

This project demonstrates the importance of integrating crop selection, ground cover retention, and innovative practices to manage and rehabilitate saline soils, ensuring long-term resilience and productivity in the Mallee region.

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Building Soil Function

Strategies like ground cover and amelioration to enhance soil structure and fertility.

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Exploring carbon farming practices to boost soil health and reduce emissions.

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Soil for Drought Resilience

Addressing land degradation challenges, including saline soils and Mallee seeps, to improve resilience to dry conditions.

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Integrating soil management with agronomy for improved crop productivity and sustainability.

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Optimising livestock and pasture systems to enhance soil quality and pasture performance.

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