- 84 per cent of the 2005/06 Australian cotton crop was grown under irrigation (Source: ACIC, 2006)
- Irrigated agriculture contributes approximately 50 per cent of the total net returns to agriculture but only uses 0.5 per cent of Australia’s farming area (Source: CSIRO, 2006)
- In order to produce high yielding and high quality cotton, Australian cotton growers use water responsibly and efficiently
- Australian cotton growers work with various partners including universities, cooperative research centres, government departments and consultants in an effort to better maximise water use efficiency
- Of the world’s major cotton producing countries Australia uses its water most efficiently (Source: Cotton CRC/CSIRO, 2003)
- The cotton industry accounts for 16.1 per cent of total water use in agriculture in Australia (Source: ABS, Water Use on Australian Farms, 2005-06)
- Cotton growing valleys account for less than 20 per cent of total water extracted in the Murray-Darling Basin (Source: Murray-Darling Basin Commission, 2004)
- Nearly all Australian cotton is grown in the Darling River catchment, not the Murray River catchment
- Unlike most Murray River catchment crops, cotton in the Darling River catchment is grown in line with seasonal rainfall patterns, thereby reducing the need for irrigated water
- Cotton’s average irrigation requirement is 6.5 megalitres per hectare (6.5 ML/ha) compared to rice (14.1 ML/ha), sugar cane (5.4 ML/ha), fruit (4.8 ML/ha), and pasture for grazing (4.0 ML/ha) (Source: ABS, Water Use on Australian Farms, 2005)
- Cotton production is broadacre cropping’s best economic return ($/ha) for general security irrigation water. This is the reason why many farmers with a water licence choose to grow cotton for their livelihood
- Cotton growers pay a licence fee to access water and must follow a strict set of rules set down by State Governments
- State Government agencies regulate water use via the allocation of water licences, dam and weir management, and deciding on the timing and amount of water able to be accessed by irrigators
- The vast majority of cotton growers cover the full cost of pumping water to their farms, the infrastructure needed to distribute this water across their fields and associated water storage costs
- On-farm water application is specifically timed to match the cotton crop’s need for water
- Water applications are well timed to reduce deep drainage and improve cotton’s water use efficiency
- In Australia, cotton is grown on self-mulching clays that are extremely efficient for irrigation
- Self-mulching clays store large quantities of rainfall and swell and seal when field capacity has been reached under furrow irrigation
- Examples of water use efficiency savings include improvements in cultivation that increase water availability to the cotton root system
- Other water use efficiencies include the use of on-farm water storage, water recycling and irrigation scheduling methods to conserve water
- Nearly all cotton farms are designed with return water systems that re-use water and capture the first flush of storm run-off from the farm
- These return water systems ensure no precious water is lost and no water containing chemicals re-enters the river system
- The CSIRO is also identifying the alternative ways cotton crops respond to water stress when grown in different soils and climates. This research will help growers tailor specific irrigation plans to further maximise cotton’s water use efficiency (Source: CSIRO, 2005)
- The cotton industry has invested $1.2 million in salinity mapping to identify areas at risk of salinity (Source: Cotton CRC, 2004)
- The research showed that salinity poses little significant threat in cotton growing areas (Source: Cotton CRC, 2004)
