R-Software: Minimum Cost of DIN Credits from Sugarcane Practice Change in Wet Tropics

The Wet Tropics region of Australia is the focus of this dataset, which contains R code and associated outputs for estimating the minimum cost of supplying dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) water quality credits via fertilizer practice change in sugarcane production. The analysis uses data from 563 individual cane land management units, derived from the Queensland Government's Paddock to Reef (P2R) modelling system for the period 1987-2013. Results are produced as supply curves for DIN credits across eight main catchments.

Use Cases

• Modeling supply curves for water quality credits based on opportunity cost and risk compensation calculations.
• Comparing the cost of DIN credit generation across different catchments in the Wet Tropics region.
• Analyzing the economic impact of fertilizer application rate changes on sugarcane farm gross margins.
• Estimating transaction costs for growers participating in water quality credit trading schemes.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on data from 563 distinct cane management units, providing fine spatial resolution.
• Uses P2R-simulated cane yield and DIN loss data spanning a 27-year period from 1987 to 2013.
• Methodology explicitly calculates four cost components: opportunity cost, risk compensation, equipment cost, and transaction cost.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count for the underlying input data is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the P2R modelling program and the 1987-2013 period.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, originating from NESP Tropical Water Quality Hub Project 3.1.6.

Collection Method

Uses data from the Queensland Government's Paddock to Reef (P2R) modelling system and other public sources, processed with custom R code.

Time Range

1987-2013

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 14:53:56.286015; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Wet Tropics catchments in Queensland, Australia (Daintree, Mossman, Barron, Mulgrave-Russell, Johnstone, Tully, Murray, Herbert).