Pillar 1: Paddock

Theme: Adaptive systems

Objective:
Grow the profitability and resilience of Australian cotton-farming systems through innovative solutions, technologies, and practices.

Impact:
In 2028, Australian cotton-farming systems are resilient, biosecure, and able to thrive in an increasingly variable climate with enhanced resource efficiency.

The Adaptive systems theme aims to equip Australian cotton growers with production solutions to thrive in an increasingly complex future. RD&E has been a key driver to expansion, boosting yields, cutting production costs, and improving sustainability.

Our industry faces escalating threats and pressures that will affect how, where, and how much cotton we produce. Among these challenges is the need to adapt to a changing climate, grow more cotton with fewer inputs, remain resilient to changing and new disease, pest and weed challenges, and respond to and meet market and community expectations on sustainability.

To ensure the long-term profitability and resilience of our cotton farms, the industry needs to develop adaptive farming systems and support faster adoption of new solutions, technologies, and practices.

By looking at farms as true systems and not isolated aspects of farming, CRDC will target RD&E across four integral sub-themes: Solving farming systems constraints (water, agronomy, climate change); Disease; Biosecurity; and Northern Australia. The sub-themes will prioritise investments for the greatest impact to help:

  • Growers respond to a future requiring enhanced resource efficiency with better adapted cotton plants and systems > Solving farming systems constraints (water, agronomy, climate change)
  • Reduce the economic impacts of current and emerging diseases of cotton > Disease
  • Build biosecure, pest-suppressive farming systems to cope with challenges (exotics, resistance, species shift) > Biosecurity
  • Support establishing a sustainable and profitable cotton-farming system in Northern Australia > Northern Australia.

The Adaptive systems theme will help ensure our cotton-farming systems continue to be profitable and resilient. This theme will build on and influence other Clever Cotton themes, especially Data-driven decisions and Connected market intelligence.

Outcomes:

  • By 2028, economic impacts of current and emerging cotton diseases are cut to less than 5 per cent of the cost of production through practice change underpinned by efficient and collaborative RD&E
  • By 2028, a pest-suppressive farming system is established that is better able to cope with challenges (exotics, resistance, species shift) while meeting community expectations about less relience on pesticides
  • By 2028, a sustainable and profitable cotton-farming system is established in Northern Australia
  • By 2028, on-farm profitability is supported, and key challenges addressed while also enabling the achievement of sustainability metrics
  • By 2033, cotton-farming systems are better adapted to the future – limited water, more variable and extreme climate, and input constraints