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Growers hail new turf that can be watered with seawater
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The World Today - Wednesday, 28 March , 2007 12:30:00
Reporter: Tanya Nolan
ELEANOR HALL: It's being hailed as the saviour of the drought-ravaged turf industry and the great green hope for those who love their lawn.

It's a new breed of turf that can be watered with seawater.

But while it's been popular elsewhere in the world, it's been slow to catch on in Australia.

Now turf growers are encouraging state governments to embrace it as an element of sustainable planning.

But as Tanya Nolan reports, environment groups say they want to know what its broader environmental impact may be.

(Sound of lawnmower)

TANYA NOLAN: The sound of the lawnmower priming on a Sunday morning has long been a great Australian ritual.

But with the drought and water restrictions, it's a ritual that's dying out, along with the lawn in the backyard.

Turf grower and a founding member of Turf Producers Australia, Greg Miller, has felt firsthand the impact of water restrictions.

He estimates it's cost his business around $700,000 a year in lost revenue.

And it's prompted the search for a new drought-resistant lawn that thrives on salt water.

Now he's encouraging the New South Wales Government and homeowners to get behind it.

The World Today - Growers hail new turf that can be watered with seawater

* Water shortages and degradation. (See section above.)

Badly planned and poorly built irrigation systems have reduced yields on one half of all irrigated land, according to a 1995 estimate by FAO.39 The two main problems are salinization and waterlogging of crops. FAO estimates that salt build-up in soil has severely damaged 25-30 million hectares of the world's 255 million hectares of irrigated land.40 Another 80 million hectares are affected by a combination of salinization and waterlogging.41

Every year, on average, about 1.5 million hectares of irrigated land is taken out of production because of salt build-up alone, half of the amount of land brought into production.42 With such problems, the world's irrigated croplands may actually be shrinking at a time when they should be expanding to meet growing demand for food, according to the International Irrigation Management Institute.43

The State of World Population 2001