Growing sugarcane in the lee of Queensland’s second highest mountain in one of the wettest areas of the state creates challenges but they’re ones that Angle Mustafa has used innovation to overcome.
“We have too much rain,” Angle says of his 88 hectare farm near Babinda which has an annual rainfall around 4000mm. Shading from Mount Bellenden Ker is also a problem.
“I’m in a low sunlight area because of the high mountain and that keeps us about the lowest cane sugar content in the state but it’s still a good area to grow cane and good rural area to live in.”
The property is criss-crossed with waterways that make their way out to the Great Barrier Reef and Angle’s efforts to protect their water quality made him an automatic choice for a video story in this year’s Canegrowers Virtual Bus Tour series. The videos in the series are all on YouTube http://bit.ly/1XtDUWM.
Three initiatives implemented on Angle’s farm reduce the threat to the Reef posed by nutrient, chemical and sediment runoff.
A triple-row fertiliser box and stool splitter is an example of how boosting productivity and environmental benefits go hand-in-hand. It would have been difficult to achieve without assistance as it cost $50,000 in a 50-50 funding arrangement through the Australian Government Reef Program.
It allows for sub-surface application of nutrients, putting them into the sugarcane’s roots so they can’t get washed away.
Sub-surface application also reduces the loss of fertiliser through volatilisation, where nitrogen degrades into ammonia gas and floats away.
A best management practice approach to weed control minimises the impact of herbicide on the surrounding environment. A banded spray rig has reduced the amount of herbicide needed, while applying it in a more targeted manner. Spraying is now to one pass and the inter-row spacing can be left alone with the trash blanket.
The latest project is a system of underground pipes to improve drainage. Water from natural springs that appear after heavy rainfall is channelled away, without taking crop nutrients with it or eroding the soil.
“We don’t want open drains all over the paddock because they’re going to collapse and cause a sediment problem,” Angle says. “We’d also have to spray them to keep the grass out and we don’t want to use any more chemicals that we have to.”
So Angle has installed slotted pipes into beds of sand which filter and channel the water away.
It’s an innovative approach to farming that ultimately boosts productivity and provides peace of mind that benefits will flow to the Great Barrier Reef.
