Historical document
Optimising water use of Australian almond production through deficit irrigation strategies (AL08009)
Publication date: September 1, 2012
Delivery Partner: Victorian Department of Primary Industries (VICDPI)
This is a final research report from Hort Innovation’s historical archives. Please note that as these reports may date back as far as the 1990s, the content and recommendations within them may be superseded by more recent research.
Horticulture in the Murray Darling basin in previous years had seen a steady erosion of a historically secure and readily accessible water supply and during drought this trend had led to a near unsustainable cost of irrigation water.
The almond industry had recognised that its successful future would increasingly depend on the adoption of strategies that ensured the most effective and efficient use of irrigation water including the use of deficit irrigation.
As a consequence the industry in collaboration with the Victorian Department of Primary Indus-tries (DPI) in 2009 established a research project that evaluated the potential of strategic deficit irrigation in almond production.
A large field experiment on a commercial property gave important insights into the performance of Nonpareil under deficit irrigation.
This historical project was a strategic levy investment in the Hort Innovation Almond Fund
© 2026 Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited.
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