Australia
May 15, 2014
Northern chickpea growers will have unprecedented access to expert agronomic advice this season following this week’s online launch of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) chickpea GrowNotes module www.grdc.com.au/GrowNotes
As planters roll into paddocks across the northern cropping belt, the GrowNotes chickpea module will help equip growers with a full suite of targeted research and agronomic information to maximise crop production and profitability.
The dynamic document provides 'one stop shop' for northern region trial results and industry best practice recommendations on pre-plant planning and paddock preparation, sowing practices, crop nutrition, fertiliser, weed control, disease and pest management, harvest and storage practices, environmental issues and marketing.
Moree-based consultant Tim Poole, Poole Ag Consulting, said the GrowNotes chickpea module was an exciting initiative, providing a comprehensive framework for the successful production of both Desi and Kabuli crops in a format that was easy to understand, access and navigate.
“Everything growers need to know about the successful production of a chickpea crop is contained in this module,” Mr Poole said.
“It draws together information and expertise from all sectors of the industry and as it is digitised, growers can access it at any time for on-the-spot advice about specific questions or issues.”
This is the first time that such a comprehensive range of information has been so readily accessible to growers and is a direct response to calls from industry to provide crop-specific information targeted to individual regions and cropping environments according to GRDC Northern Panel chair James Clark.
“GrowNotes effectively collates the massive bank of research and extension work facilitated by industry and funded by organisations like GRDC over the past 20-odd years,” Mr Clark said.
“Initiatives like this are a key step in moving the industry forward and helping growers generate higher returns through improved crop management.
“The GrowNotes modules complement the specialist advisory services already offered by local agronomists and consultants by reinforcing industry best-practice advice across the production spectrum and providing hundreds of hypertext links for further reading on specific issues.
“All of this information is conveniently located within the one document which saves growers and industry personnel spending hours searching the internet for relevant information.”
Presented as an online flip-book, the chickpea GrowNotes module is a dynamic document that will be regularly updated as new research and agronomic information becomes available.
The release of the chickpea GrowNotes module comes on the back of the recent release of the wheat, barley and durum modules which have received widespread acclaim from growers and industry representatives.
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