Quantifying Trends in Soil Condition: Gathering Baseline Data for Developing Targets and Supporting Informed Land Management Decision Making

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Grose, Chris Kidd, Darren Moreton, Robert Tate, Susan E.
Copyright Year	2004
Abstract	INTRODUCTION Currently, across Tasmania there is little available data identifying the impact of land use and land management on soil condition. Agricultural production in Tasmania is economically important, contributing in excess of $903 million (gross value) in 2001/02 (DPIWE 2004). The value of primary industries in Tasmania has grown significantly since 1998, returning an additional $204 million at the farm gate over the period of 1998-2002 in agricultural production alone (DPIWE 2003). Whilst this growth is economically impressive, such an increase in production can place pressure on valuable natural resources. Furthermore, rural Tasmania has recently been experiencing significant land use change. Conversions of land from grazing to cropping and the introduction of centre pivot irrigation systems warrant investigations into the impact of current land management on soil condition. If such growth, production intensity and land use is to be sustainable, the impacts on soil condition need to be assessed and desirable threshold targets established to avoid degradation of a resource essential to Tasmania's agricultural industry. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish preliminary benchmarks for the major indicators of soil condition to assist and benefit land management decisions.
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Alternate Webpage(s)	http://crcleme.org.au/Pubs/Monographs/regolith2004/Grose_et_al.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article