Facilitated action learning groups to support profitable irrigated farming systems in the northern and southern regions.

This investment will establish eight facilitated Action Learning Groups (ALGs) in the southern Murray Darling Basin (SMDB), South-East SA and SA/Victorian Mallee. Each group will have a minimum 10 growers and advisers. The ALGs will use a participatory learning approach to benchmark, test and validate assumptions and key learnings arising from the proposed irrigation investments (see Background). It is a hands on approach as opposed to growers and advisers being provided with findings at the end of the research period.

Participants of ALGs will be actively involved in:

• Developing and validating agronomic practices on-farm with the aim to realise the genetic potential of grain crops grown under irrigation.

• Increasing yield potential of irrigated crops through evaluation and on farm adoption of novel amelioration techniques that improve soil structure.

• Benchmarking irrigation systems and testing assumptions in order to optimise farm scale returns from irrigated grains: maximising $ return per megalitre of water.

A meeting facilitator will run each ALG to ensure meetings are effective and rewarding to members. A coordinator will ensure active engagement between the research leads (PROC-9175813, PROC-9175815, PROC-9175816) and ALG facilitators as well overseeing the scientific rigour of experimentation, information and data transfers between the proposed projects.

Information generated and outputs developed by PROC-9175813, PROC-9175815 and PROC-9175816 will be tested and validated by the ALGs. The facilitators will also identify grower champions from ALGs to extend key messages to the wider irrigation community to facilitate peer to peer learning.