Information
Rainfall Simulator Extension Tour: ‘The Limes’ Chinchilla
Level 1 General description
Purpose:
A rainfall simulator was used to examine the influence of different management options on infiltration of rainfall and runoff.
Methods (brief)
The soil present on site is a brigalow soil. The soil was moist with some cracks present in the zero-till practice.
The rainfall simulator was applied to the following four plots:
Previously uncultivated strip (after failed chickpea)
A) Not cultivated. The soil was not disturbed since chickpea planting. Some wheat stubble from the previous year was still present (cover 50%).
B) Scarified. The soil was ‘cultivated’ with a shovel to create conditions similar to those left by a scarifier. The soil surface was furrowed (cover 10%).
Cultivated fallow strip (following sorghum)
C) Dimpled. The soil was ‘cultivated’ then 6 pits (4 per square metre) were created on the soil surface with a shovel to duplicate the effect of a pitting implement such as the Conservation King (cover 5%).
D) Scarified. The soil was ‘cultivated’ with a shovel to create conditions similar to those left by a scarifier (cover 5%).
Key findings (brief)
- Cultivated reduced runoff compared to the uncultivated ‘zero-till’ fallow (chickpea and old wheat stubble) (Figure 1). This may have been due to increased cover and presence of soil cracks.
- Soil pits reduced runoff from a finely cultivated surface when no stubble cover was available.
Location
‘The Limes’ Chinchilla
Related studies
‘Orion Downs’ Orion; ‘Enderley’ - Gindie; ‘Kurrajong’ Capella; ‘Marylands’ Retro; ‘Innisfree’ Wolfgang; ‘Tarvellon’ Kilcummin; ‘Bundella’ Wallumbilla; ‘Twin-Butts’ Wandoan; ‘Moruya’ Goondiwindi; ‘Forest Park’ Warwick
Key references and sources of this data synthesis
These data summaries have been extracted from:
- Cawley ST, Hamilton NA, Freebairn DM, Markey LJ. Viable Farming Systems Group Project: Evaluating fallow management options by using rainfall simulation. Queensland Department of Primary Industries October 1992.