Farm Table says:
Integrated assessment of an irrigated lucerne production system in eastern Australia.
This paper presents a novel integrated framework, based on carbon and water accounting, which enables analysis of potential trade-offs between water savings, energy consumption, GHG emissions and economic costs/benefits associated with the adoption of new water-efficient irrigation technologies.
What is the problem? Robust understanding of possible trade-offs and synergies between climate change, energy, and water sector policies is critical to achieving economically viable and environmentally sound agricultural production.
Accurate assessment of the potential costs/benefits of investment decisions can help to optimize the economic efficiency of agricultural production while minimizing environmental impacts.
What did the research involve?The framework was applied to an irrigated lucerne cropping system in eastern Australia compares the costs/benefits of old roll-line sprinkler irrigation systems against new pressurized systems.
