ABS Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production in Australia, 2011-12 

DID YOU KNOW –

it is interesting that nursery production rates a mention on the graph.

VOLUME OF WATER APPLIED

• In 2011-12, the total volume of water applied for irrigation in Australia was 8.2 million megalitres (ML). The three commodities using the highest irrigation volume were cotton, which used 2.1 million ML, pasture for livestock grazing using 1.6 million ML and rice, using 1.1 million ML for irrigation.

• In the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) region, the total volume of irrigation water applied in 2011-12 was 5.9 million ML, which was 72% of the total volume of irrigation water applied in Australia. The commodities with the highest volume of irrigated water applied in the MDB were cotton with 1.9 million ML, rice with 1.1 million ML and pasture for livestock grazing with 1.0 million ML.

• In 2011-12, cotton was the commodity using the largest volume of irrigation water in both New South Wales (1.3 million ML) and Queensland (781,000 ML). The commodity group, pasture for livestock grazing, was the biggest user of irrigation water in Victoria (934,000 ML), South Australia (163,000 ML), Tasmania (91,700 ML) and Western Australia (61,800 ML).

GROSS VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA (GVAP)

In 2011-12, the total gross value of agricultural production (GVAP) for Australia rose slightly over the previous year to $46.7 billion. The three commodities with the highest GVAP in Australia were cereals for grain and seed valued at $9.4 billion, production from sheep and other livestock valued at $9.3 billion, and production from meat cattle valued at $7.8 billion.

• In the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) region, the total GVAP fell by 3% to $18.6 billion. The GVAP for the MDB accounted for 40% of the total for Australia. In 2011-12, the commodities with the highest GVAP in the MDB were cereals for grain and seed valued at $4.1 billion, production from sheep and other livestock valued at $3.9 billion, and cotton valued at $2.2 billion.

• In the states and territories, production from sheep and other livestock recorded the highest GVAP in Victoria ($2.7 billion), New South Wales ($2.5 billion) and South Australia ($1.6 billion). Cereals for grain and seed was the commodity group with the highest GVAP in Western Australia, valued at $3.7 billion. In Queensland, production from meat cattle recorded the highest GVAP at $3.5 billion, while in Tasmania, dairy production had the highest GVAP at $315 million.