The spring 2021 edition of CRDC's magazine, Spotlight, focuses on the capability of Australian cotton growers and our world-leading researchers, which puts Australian cotton at the cutting edge. This edition looks at the many programs that CRDC invests in to build the capacity of our industry and develop our future leaders.
It also looks at recent cotton irrigation benchmarking figures, which show that the Australian cotton industry has almost halved the amount of water required to grow a bale of cotton over the past 25 years. This is an enormous achievement, and one that has primarily been driven by growers making improvements in irrigation infrastructure and driving efficiencies in their management practices, underpinned by CRDC-supported RD&E. The research also suggests that we are well on our way to continue this trend and reach the industry’s ambitious sustainability water use efficiency target, outlined in the PLANET. PEOPLE. PADDOCK. Sustainability Framework.
This edition also features another fantastic sustainability story: a circular cotton project being led by Cotton Australia, with support from a range of partners including CRDC. This heralds the possible start of a truly circular industry.