Ms Genevieve Durrington1,2, Mr Trevor Philp3
1University Of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, Australia, 2Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture, St Lucia, Australia, 3Pacific Seeds, Toowoomba, Australia
Biography:
Genevieve Durrington is a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, focusing on sorghum crop modelling. Her project aims to explore the performance of different cropping strategies over diverse environments, particularly with respect to trade-offs of yield and production risk. She holds a bachelor's degree in plant science and computational science, with Honours in molecular biology. She is the recipient of a GRDC Grains Research scholarship and has completed an industry placement with Pacific Seeds as part of her PhD. With a passion for agriculture and technology, she aims to pursue a data-driven career after completing her PhD in 2025.
Abstract:
As a historically underutilised crop in the region, sorghum is gaining interest in the northwest NSW area. With a generational shift among growers and changing crop rotation needs, there is increasing openness to the crop. Despite this, further interrogation is needed to determine the real potential for sorghum in the region. Specifically, growers and agronomists want to understand how growing sorghum could look in the area, both in terms of fitting sorghum into their rotation, and how to improve the likelihood of a successful crop. Using simulation, this work analysed the frequency and spread of historical planting opportunities, crop performance under different planting criteria, and potential varietal trait x management options to maximise performance and minimise production risk. From a rainfall perspective, findings indicate that planting opportunities are not overly limiting for the region, but growers may have to be more flexible about planting later in the possible window than is currently preferred. Regarding planting criteria in terms of soil water profile and weather forecasts, this work suggests that current behaviour may be too conservative, potentially leading to missed opportunities for successful seasons. Given the apparent potential in the area, investigation into the historical performance of different management and varietal trait combinations has also been undertaken, including analysis into narrow vs wide rows and optimal traits for the region. Overall, this work has explored sorghum production in the northwest NSW region, suggesting significant potential, but also highlighting the need for flexibility among growers to capitalize on it. The need for further research into limiting factors on-farm is also highlighted.