Australian sugarcane farming occupies 350,000 hectares in Great Barrier Reef catchments and applies over 55,000 tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer annually. This project from the Australian Ocean Data Network tested production zone yield potential and enhanced efficiency fertilizers at nitrogen loss 'hot spots' to reduce surplus nitrogen. The work evaluated water quality benefits and produced recommendations for enhanced Best Management Practices.
Use Cases
- Evaluating the effectiveness of production zone yield potential (PZYP) as a basis for fertilizer rates based on trial data.
- Comparing nitrogen loss reduction between enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) and standard fertilizers based on farm trial results.
- Assessing water quality benefits derived from changes in on-farm nitrogen management practices.
- Validating productivity, economic, and environmental indicators for strategies aimed at reducing surplus nitrogen.
Strengths
- Focuses on nitrogen loss 'hot spots' identified from existing farm trials.
- Evaluates multiple strategies including PZYP and enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs).
- Assesses water quality, productivity, economic, and environmental indicators.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on Reef catchments.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Utilized existing farm trials at identified nitrogen loss 'hot spots'.
- Time Range
- 2019-2020
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-16 02:55:51.797177; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Great Barrier Reef catchments, Australia