Pronger will use his Flower Doctoral Fellowship in Agribusiness scholarship, worth $30,000 a year for three years, to address the ongoing impacts of drought on dry land farming, or farms that aren’t irrigated.
His research will focus on identifying approaches to increase drought resilience by using more diverse mixes of pasture species.
His PhD will look at differences in seasonal water use between mixed sward pasture systems (a combination of different grass, legume and herb species) and ryegrass/clover pasture systems under dairy grazing.
“The current knowledge of paddock-scale water use and water uptake efficiency is pretty limited,” he said.
“To cope with the increasing incidence of drought, farmers need pasture species that can access water deeper in the soil, and/or reduce paddock-scale water use while maintaining agronomic production.”
He said with the economics of farming practices changing and the ongoing issue of climate change, identifying ways to combat the effects of drought was more important than ever.
Compared to traditional pasture systems of perennial ryegrass and white clover, mixed sward pasture systems have been shown to increase drymatter production during dry periods, while maintaining similar cumulative drymatter production year-round.
“Mixed sward pasture systems might also potentially reduce some of the negative environmental effects of farming through reduced nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions and increased soil carbon sequestration,” he said.
Increased dry season pasture production may support more milk and meat production, bringing with it wider economic benefits for NZ.
“The knowledge gained through my research will hopefully contribute to more efficient water usage of pastoral systems, and increased pastoral production that will likely benefit the economy down the track,” he said.
