For well over a decade, the Australian cotton industry has been investing in research and technology to meet the challenges associated with water and this will continue to be a focus for the next 20 years.
In excess of $17 million will be spent on water use efficiency research over the next three years. More than 30 projects in four states involving 12 partner research organisations will investigate tools, technologies and plant science in order to help meet the industry’s challenge of doubling water efficiencies in the next decade. These projects cover water use on the field and across the farm as well as dams, rivers and wetlands.
Australia’s cotton growers have a strong track record of incorporating new technologies into their farming systems, with each cotton grower contributing a research and development levy for every bale of cotton they produce.
Major Cotton Industry R&D Water Projects underway:
- Development of new cotton varieties that use less water
- Plant science research to discover exactly how a cotton plant takes in and uses water to produce cotton fibre - and the consequences for crop water management
- Investigation into the impact of different crop management strategies on the yield and quality of irrigated cotton
- WATERpak, a major resource that brings together the latest irrigation-related research
- The development and commercialisation of products and systems to reduce evaporation on farm dams
- Documenting the aquatic biodiversity and the ecological value of water storages - other research on birds has shown that these storages provide significant habitat to wetland and woodland birds
- Studies to fill the gaps we have in our knowledge about groundwater quality and availability
- Training for growers and farm managers in practical water use efficiency techniques
For more information on these and many other water-related R&D projects, visit www.cotton.pi.csiro.au or www.crdc.com.au
