Summary

Maintaining and developing the agricultural industry in New Zealand depends on keeping farmers in business. If agriculture is to be a sustainable industry, farmers must be able to make a net profit over the long term, and the resources on which farming depends must be used in a sustainable manner. Achieving long-term profit requires:

• Maintaining or improving resources;
• Meeting legislative requirements with respect to the environment; and
• Adjusting to international and domestic market demands.

MAF Policy believe that to maintain the future viability of farming, farmers must be able to demonstrate that they are farming in a sustainable manner, that they are making informed and responsible management decisions, and that they understand and take responsibility for those decisions.

Irrigation is a farming activity that has the potential to increase farmers’ profit and to enhance the condition of natural resources, while having minimal impact on others. This project develops indicators of irrigation performance that can be used to measure and demonstrate the impacts of irrigation, and through their use, allow farmers to make informed management choices.

Sustainability goals for irrigated agriculture are given below, followed by a list of indicators, which may be used to show progress towards these goals. Information that is needed on a daily, seasonal or long-term basis to provide data for these indicators is then listed. A further report, entitled ‘Best Management Guidelines for Irrigated Agriculture’ will use these indicators to identify ways of improving the management of irrigation systems.