Resources / Horticulture / Water use efficiency
Horticulture · Yield & water · Efficiency

Water use efficiency

7.8 t/ML

Fruit grown per megalitre of irrigation applied — the truest single measure of how well a metered, paid-for input was converted into saleable fruit. In the Goulburn Valley, where water is separately traded and costed, it is one of the most direct levers on profit.

Worked example · t fruit/ML applied · higher better
Target 9 t/ML 7.3 8.3 7.8 Pears Apples Farm avg
t fruit/ML applied · higher better
The benchmark

Water use efficiency in irrigated horticulture varies widely with crop and system — perennial fruit typically returns several tonnes of fruit per megalitre applied, and the gap between average and leading growers is driven as much by irrigation management as by yield.

Agriculture Victoria — Water ↗
What it signals

A gap to the achievable benchmark is water going to runoff, deep drainage or evaporation rather than into the tree — the part you can manage through scheduling and system design, as opposed to the allocation you can’t.

Data required to calculate
Fruit yieldt/haIrrigation water appliedML/ha

Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses, and keeps the figure current automatically.

How to improve it
01

Schedule to soil-moisture and evapotranspiration rather than the calendar.

02

Maintain drip and micro-sprinkler uniformity to cut over- and under-watering.

03

Use mulch and cover to hold soil moisture and reduce evaporation.

Questions & answers

What is water use efficiency?

Fruit grown per megalitre of irrigation applied — the truest single measure of how well a metered, paid-for input was converted into saleable fruit. In the Goulburn Valley, where water is separately traded and costed, it is one of the most direct levers on profit.

What data do you need to calculate water use efficiency?

You need: Fruit yield (t/ha), Irrigation water applied (ML/ha). Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses and keeps the figure current automatically.

What is a good water use efficiency benchmark?

Water use efficiency in irrigated horticulture varies widely with crop and system — perennial fruit typically returns several tonnes of fruit per megalitre applied, and the gap between average and leading growers is driven as much by irrigation management as by yield.

How do you improve water use efficiency?

Schedule to soil-moisture and evapotranspiration rather than the calendar. Maintain drip and micro-sprinkler uniformity to cut over- and under-watering. Use mulch and cover to hold soil moisture and reduce evaporation.

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