Australia Yearbook - 2009-10

16.1 LAND USE BY AGRICULTURAL
ESTABLISHMENTS(a), – Year ended 30 June
2006
2007
2008
Area Area of
cropped establishments
during with agricultural
year(b) activity
mill. ha
24.6
23.5
24.4
mill. ha
434.9
425.4
417.3
Proportion
of
Australian
land area
%
56.5
55.3
54.2
(a) Establishments with EVAO or turnover of $5,000 or more.
(b) Excludes crops harvested for hay and seed, and pastures
and grasses.
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).
Queensland had 141.1 mill. ha devoted to
agricultural activity while Western Australia had
93.0 mill. ha (graph 16.2). Land area not used for
agriculture consisted of unoccupied land (mainly
desert in western and central Australia),
Aboriginal land reserves (mainly located in the
Northern Territory and Western Australia),
forests, mining leases, national parks and urban
areas.
Irrigation
The high variability in river flow and annual
rainfall, which are features of the Australian
environment, means that successful ongoing
production of many crops and pastures is
dependent on irrigation. In 2007–08, 28%
(39,600) of all agricultural establishments
reported irrigation activity. In total 6,300 gigalitres
of irrigation water was applied in 2007–08, an
average application rate of 3.4 megalitres per
irrigated hectare.
Rice is only grown in areas that can guarantee an
adequate supply of irrigation water. Grapes,
vegetables, cotton and nurseries/cut
flowers/cultivated turf are the other most
intensively irrigated crops, with 96%, 93%, 85%,
and 83% respectively of their total growing areas
being irrigated in 2007–08. However, the total
area of land irrigated, about 1.9 mill. ha in
2007–08, represents less than 1% of the total land
used for agriculture (table 16.3).
Most irrigated land is located within the confines
of the Murray–Darling Basin, which covers parts
of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and
South Australia and all of the Australian Capital
Territory.
Gross value of irrigated production
The following estimates of Gross Value of
Irrigated Agricultural Production (GVIAP) have
been calculated using a recently developed
improved methodology. The estimates are
presented in current prices, and therefore
changes between years do not show the impact
of changes in prices over time.
In 2006–07, irrigated agricultural land comprised
less than 1% of all agricultural land in Australia.
However, in the same period the gross value of
production from irrigated land was $12.3
billion(b), which represented 34% of the total
gross value of agricultural production (table 16.4
and table 16.6). In 2002–03, GVIAP was $9.3b and
represented 29% of the total gross value of
agricultural production. Latest estimates show the
Fruit and nuts commodity group was the highest
contributor to the total value of irrigated
16.2 AREA OF ESTABLISHMENTS WITH AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY—30 June 2008
mill. ha
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
NSW(a) Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT
(a) Includes Australian Capital Territory.
Source: Agricultural Commodities, Australia (7121.0).
Chapter 16 — Agriculture 485