Multiple interacting soil constraints are reducing Plant Available Water (PAW), grain production and long-term profitability of crops across most of the 12 M ha of sandplain soils in the medium-high rainfall zone (van Gool 2018) of the western region resulting in lost yields with an estimated value of $1.2 Billion per year (Peterson, 2016). Current soil amelioration options (liming, deep ripping, spading, mouldboard ploughing) address one or more constraints to a depth up to 40cm. The potential yield benefits of addressing multiple constraints through complete soil profile re-engineering to a depth of 80cm is unknown.

This investment aims to:

1. Identify the most profitable and long-lasting soil amelioration and amendment strategies for managing multiple interacting soil constraints.
2. Demonstrate the benefits of re-engineering the soil profile through a combination of deep soil loosening; reconstituting profile layers and deep placement of nutrients and soil amendments.