Irrigated crops

In areas such as the Ord River Irrigation Area in northern Western Australia, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is working with industry in trialling new varieties and agronomic systems for both existing and potentially valuable new crops.

The main crops of current interest include the health food quinoa, rice which is showing considerable potential if disease and variety problems can be overcome, sugar cane which will be the basis of new developments on Ord Stage 2, and cotton which is based on genetically-modified varieties.

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Articles

Ord River development and irrigated agriculture, Western Australia

27 November 2013

Tropical agriculture on the Ord River in Western Australia's Kimberley region began in 1941.
Industrial hemp in Western Australia

8 May 2018

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) has been grown in WA for many years and is gaining interest due to recent changes in food standards allowing human consumption of hemp seed in Australia.
Industrial Hemp Grants Scheme - successful recipients

31 January 2019

Congratulations to the following applicants who were awarded grants from the Industrial Hemp Grant Scheme (IHGS).
Industrial Hemp Grants Scheme

11 October 2018

Applications have now closed for the Industrial Hemp Grants Scheme (IHGS).
Ord River Irrigation Expansion – Mantinea Development area, Western Australia

19 May 2015

This page summarises the preliminary soil and groundwater resource assessment findings for the Mantinea Development area, part of the Goomig farmlands in the Ord River Irrigation Expansion Stage 2,
Northern Beef Development project

20 August 2014

Growing global demand for Australian beef products, driven primarily by Asian countries, presents opportunities to expand livestock production and value add in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of
Climate-ready agriculture in Western Australia

21 March 2016

All agricultural industries in Western Australia will need to deal with some level of climate change in the coming decades. The effects of climate change will vary regionally and by enterprise, wit
Climate change and horticulture

1 April 2016

Climate change will affect horticultural production in Western Australia (WA) in a number of ways, and the effects will depend on location, soil type, crop type and management.
Economic analysis of irrigated agriculture development options for the Pilbara, Western Australia

25 November 2015

The Department of Agriculture and Food, WA (DAFWA) commissioned an economic analysis of irrigated agriculture development options for the Pilbara, in 2015, as part of the Royalties for Regions, Pil
Ord River Irrigation Expansion Stage 3: Cockatoo Sands, Western Australia

26 November 2013

This page and attached reports are part of the assessments for expansion of Ord River Irrigation in Western Australia’s Kimberley region: the 6000 hectares of red loamy soils – the Cockatoo Sands –