Crops

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development continues to support the growth and international competitiveness of all crop industries in Western Australia.

With a 2400 kilometre span from its tropical north to its temperate south, WA supports a broad range of cropping industries from rain-fed winter cereals through to irrigated horticultural crops.

In the 2012/13 year the WA cropping industries exported a total of $3.9 billion which comprised: $3.1 billion of cereals, $859 million of pulses, pastures and oilseeds, $142 million of horticultural crops. The major contributors to these exports were wheat ($2.7 billion), canola ($756 million), barley ($377 million), lupins ($42 million), carrots at $48 million, oats ($12 million), and strawberries at $5.5 million.

Articles

  • Stubble management on raised beds should specifically be focussed on reducing the build-up of stubble in the furrows.

  • Yellowing of leaf margins that progresses inwards generally between leaf veins with some mottles

    Manganese toxicity is rare in WA, but may occur on acidic heavy soils with high manganese levels.

     

  • Paler plants with fewer or inactive root nodules

    Nitrogen deficiency from nodule dysfunction can be caused by lack of Rhizobia, soil conditions, herbicide toxicity, or molybdenum or cobalt deficiency.

     

  • Malformed and broken (centre, right) seedlings

    Lupin has large seeds that are prone to mechanical damage during harvesting and subsequent handling, which may reduce seed viability.

  • Seedlings have deformed roots and shoots.

    Allelopathy is an uncommon disorder of germinating plants caused by a toxins in the soil that have leached from plant residues.

  • Inspecting lupin roots

    All pulse plants require healthy root systems in order to maximise growth and yield.

  • Smaller less developed tillers on the left

    The ability of a cereal crop to tiller is an indication of the crop’s ability to maximise crop yield. An inadequate number of tillers will limit the number of heads and yield potential.

  • Flowering canola paddock

    The time of flowering can be critical in determining final yield in all crops. Frost or hot, dry conditions during flowering in cereal, canola and pulse crops can dramatically reduce yields.

  • Well laid canola swaths near South Stirling

    The aim of this check is to ensure that the crop is at the right stage of maturity for windrowing. This will ensure that seed yield and oil content are maximised.

  • Flowering kaspa crop

    The number of tiller in cereals establishes the yield potential of the crop for the season. The branching of legumes and canola largely determines the yield potential in these crops.

Filter by search

Filter by topic