Development of a Sugarcane Industry in the Ord, Western Australia

The Ord River Irrigation Area is 3200 km NE of Perth on latitude 15 30’ S, at an altitude of less than 100 m, with rainfall of 800 mm. Water is supplied from the vast Lake Argyle, soils utilised for agriculture are predominantly black montmorillonitic clays and topography is generally very flat. Growing conditions are superb for most tropical crops. Out of a total of 11000 ha under irrigation, sugarcane is grown on 4000 ha to supply a mill producing around 55000 tons sugar/annum. The factory was initially constructed on a low-cost new technology basis, unfortunately it gave serious problems and required major modifications. In contrast, the cane harvesting and transport system is highly efficient. Land forming is carried out on all fields to a very high standard and all cane is furrow irrigated. Twenty growers, with an average cane area of 200 ha, focus on highly efficient sugarcane production with low labour input. Average cane yields of 128 t/ha at 14 pol % cane were attained during the period 1996-2001. The first outbreak of sugarcane smut in Australia was recorded in the Ord in 1998 and resulted in the elimination of the two most promising varieties, Q117 and NCo310. A detailed feasibility study was carried out to develop an additional 30000 ha and construct a new sugar mill with a capacity of 400000 tons sugar annually but these proposals were recently abandoned primarily due to low prospective world sugar prices. However, the existing mill is planning to double its current capacity, which will require a further 4000-5000 hectares of land to be planted to sugarcane.