Value of irrigation to agricultural production recognised by ABS
Rural landowners have long recognised the value represented to their production opportunities by irrigation facilities - and now an official report has detailed the exact dollar contribution.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released industry figures that show that the combined agricultural industry was worth approximately $39.8 billion in the 2009-10 financial year.
Of this, 29 per cent was accounted for directly by irrigated production - with fruit, vegetables and dairy taking the top three spots on the national ladder - while grain seed, meat cattle and other livestock dominated overall.
Both Queensland and Victoria delivered a combined total that accounted for more than half of the country's irrigated produce, with $6.5 billion in goods sourced from the two states.
According to the bureau, the Murray Darling Basin provided nearly 38 per cent of irrigated produce - an unsurprising figure seeing as it represents nearly 25 per cent of Australia's agricultural estate.
Fruit was the most prominent commodity produced by the rural property owners in the nation's food-bowl - with the ABS estimating that "over $1 billion of value" was due to irrigation in that particular region.
Rice was also a fairly productive commodity - realising a total value of $88.9 million. However, 100 per cent of these cereal production facilities required direct irrigation facilities.
