Commerce
Its main industry has been rice growing, with a major rice mill located one kilometre north of the town. Other crops are also grown, such as wheat, maize, sorghum and soya beans. Grazing of sheep and cattle is also common.
The quality of soil in the Coleambally Irrigation Area, combined with growing a water-intensive crop such as rice, has led to soil salination and high water table problems throughout the area. Efforts to alleviate the soil salination problem since 1995 have minimised the problem.
The lack of water during the latest drought has put the rice industry at risk, with severe water restrictions being imposed. Competition from highly subsidised US farmers also poses a large threat to this industry and the families involved in it.
Rice production in 2006 will be much higher than recent years due to greater water allocations being available.
Total rice production in 2006 in the Murray Valley and the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) and Coleambally Irrigation Area are expected to total 1,000,000 tonnes (1,100,000 short tons), up from 330,000 tonnes (360,000 short tons) in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Coleambally
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