Land Resources
Mallee Regional Catchment Strategy Goal
To protect and improve the capability of land resources in the Mallee to support ecological processes, primary production and built infrastructure.
Natural Assets
The area of agricultural private land is 2.3 million hectares. The current market value of all agricultural land (including irrigation water) is approximately $2,680 million.
Since the market value of the land resources of the Mallee is an embodiment of people's expectations about its future earning capacity, the value can be expected to fluctuate in line with the fluctuating fortunes of world commodity prices. The productive capacity of Mallee land rose steadily over the last half of the twentieth century due to increased mechanisation, improved management techniques and genetic improvement of crops.
Irrigated land makes up 1.4 percent of the area but 36 percent of the value of agricultural land. The area under irrigation has grown by around 1,000 hectares per year since 1994.
Productive land is the backbone of the economy of the Mallee. The Mallee produces fifty percent of Victoria's cereals, covering both wheat and barley, as well as a high percentage of Victoria's irrigated horticulture. This capacity is threatened by a range of external factors including increased salinity, soil erosion, and pest plant and animals. Equally, the use of land as a productive resource also has the potential to harm the environment, whether from increased salinity or destruction of native vegetation.
The Land Resources Asset also includes significant infrastructure such as roads, channels, pipelines, railway-lines and grain-storage.
Program Objectives
Core projects comprising the Land Resources Program will contribute towards:
- the adoption of farming systems that reduce groundwater recharge and soil erosion
- all land affected by rising saline groundwater being covered by appropriate management action plans
- the development and implementation of regional action plans for priority pest plants and animals
- the management and assessment of pest plants and animals in priority areas for potential long-term control (including biological control of rabbits)
- the provision of whole farm planning support to all dryland farms
- the implementation of targeted on-ground works for dryland salinity, soil erosion and pest plant and animal control.
Land Resources Publications
To view a full list of all the Fact Sheets and Technical Bulletins produced by the Land Resources Unit, please click here.
Further Information
For further information, click on any of the links below.
Environmental management action planning (EMAP) - Whole farm