by Amir Abadi, Ted Lefroy, Don Cooper, Robyn Hean and Christine Davies This publication reports a series of case studies comparing the relative profitability of different agricultural systems incorporating woody crops with conventional agriculture in the dryland cropping zones of Western Australia (WA) and New South Wales (NSW). It uses, as comparators, current agricultural land practices as economic benchmarks.  Farming systems incorporating prospective woody crops are compared to these benchmarks to ascertain their commercial viability in the low-medium rainfall agricultural environments. The economic methodology and the spreadsheet developed to evaluate these farming systems have broad application to the evaluation of alternative land uses.  2006, Pub# 05/181, 76pgs

by EC Lefroy, RJ Stirzaker, JS Pate, MJ Unkovich

Agroforestry systems have long been advocated as one approach to improve water management. This report describes research into the water use and yield trade-offs involved in alley farming systems where trees are mixed with crops and pastures. While this report deals specifically with alley cropping systems on sandplain soils, the principles involved and the research methods used are applicable to measuring the trade-offs between water use and crop yield in other environments.

2005, 91pgs, 05/129

Yan Diczbalis and Darren Westerhuis

This report outlines a large-scale study to guide future planting schemes for biodiversity recovery in agricultural landscapes.  It documents and compares the occurrences of more than 180 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians sampled at 136 sites representing eucalypt plantings in two broad age-classes, nearby remnants of native forest and woodland, and cleared or sparsely-treed paddocks.  The study design also enabled comparison of the occurrences of these species across a range of patch-sizes of both revegetation and existing remnant vegetation.  Comparisons were also made of the occupancy of young plantings by birds and bats in two landscape types, which differed mainly in their proportions of retained native vegetation.  The role of vegetation type and condition, and management history, in influencing the occurrences of species in plantings and remnants is discussed.  The report concludes with recommendations for restoring habitat for wildlife on farms, in the context of improving conservation outcomes from eucalypt plantings that are established for multiple purposes. 2005, Pub No 05/165, 90pgs

by V O'Keefe, et al

This report is a detailed analysis of the processing, marketing and economic potential of producing a salty snack made from taro Colocasia esculenta. The objectives of this study were to determine the feasibility of establishing a taro chip processing industry in North Queensland.  2005, 93pp, Pub No 05/144

Edited by Peter D. Erskine, David Lamb and Mila Bristow

This peer-reviewed book, resulting from a technical workshop in June 2003, reviews research and experience in reforestation with rainforest and tropical species. It covers some of the history of rainforest reforestation and planting schemes, and the methods used to propagate and establish rainforest tree species. It presents growth rates for a wide variety of species planted in different regions, knowledge about the pests and diseases found in rainforest plantations and discusses the management challenges of mixed species stands. The book offers future directions for rainforest plantation research and insights into how our Australian experience can be applied more widely throughout the altered rainforest landscapes of the tropical world.  2005, 283pp, Pub No 05/087

By C.E. Harwood et al.

This report provides an update to the Australian Low Rainfall Tree Improvement Group (ALRTIG) Compendium of Hardwood Breeding Strategies originally published in 2001 (RIRDC publication No. 01/100).  The update should be read with reference to the earlier publication. It includes new information that has come to light since ALRTIG formed in 1999, and discusses the implications of this on the tree improvement strategies. 2005, 23pp, Pub. No 05/023