A $125 million investment capturing $1 billion in return is the aim of Clever Cotton, an ambitious investment plan that hopes to deliver innovation with impact.
Emerald cotton grower Ross Burnett of Barkool says the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) initiative reflects the current focus and agility of Australia’s cotton industry.
Mr Burnett, a CRDC director, says Clever Cotton will allow the industry to establish a sustainable low-carbon production system, as well as capture data and insights that enhance its market access and value.
Furthermore, he hopes it will provide a roadmap to world-leading RD&E that enables the cotton industry to respond faster to the rising challenges affecting how much cotton is produced.
“Over the past five years, the industry’s focus on sustainability has grown and Clever Cotton aligns strongly with that to ensure Australian cotton is competitive on the world stage,” Mr Burnett said.
“Also, stakeholders throughout the supply chain are asking for more thorough evidence of how we produce cotton, which ensures we must remain open and transparent.”
Mr Burnett says cotton growers are implementing new technologies to produce cotton with less inputs such as insecticides and herbicides, less water and even less land to achieve a productive increase.
“I think it’s positive, yes.
“It’s a challenge but it’s exciting to know that we’re not still doing the same things we did more than 10 years ago.
“We want to be progressive and implement new ideas and technologies because we’re always learning and striving to do better.”
CRDC executive director Dr Ian Taylor says the challenges facing cotton growers are more complex than ever.
He cites biosecurity, a changing climate, demographic shifts, digital disruption, evolving consumer expectations, automation, geopolitical unrest, urbanisation and competing demands for resources.
“To overcome these 21st-century challenges, we need 21st-century solutions – and that’s what Clever Cotton will deliver,” Dr Taylor said.
“The cotton industry has a history of ambitious and transformational solutions – over CRDC’s 30-year history, RD&E has helped our growers achieve a 97pc reduction in insecticide, 52pc reduction in water and 34pc reduction in land needed to grow a single bale of cotton.
“Our goal now is to deliver the next major step forward for our industry.”
Building on this enviable track record of innovation and adoption, Clever Cotton heralds a new program-based investment approach.
It is one that encourages researchers to look beyond traditional boundaries and, instead, consider industry’s challenges in the context of the system as a whole.
“To meet the industry-defining challenges that lay ahead of us, we need RD&E that delivers transformational change,” Dr Taylor said.
“Rather than smaller projects that, together and over time, add up to deliver meaningful solutions, we’re going to deliver bigger investments with bigger outcomes and bigger impact.
“Clever Cotton champions that approach.”
