CRDC Annual Report 2001-2002

Abstract

In the 2001/02 season Australian cotton growers achieved what is believed to be a world record. They harvested more cotton per hectare than any other major cotton producing nation. This achievement comes with continuing improvement in environmental management. While a favourable season was part of the picture, these improved yields are also an outcome of a comprehensive research program. During the last 30 years the lint yield in Australia has increased by an average of 23 kilograms per hectare per year, one bale per hectare every 10 years or so. The increase is due in part to better plant varieties and in part to improved crop management. The yield improvement is a clear case where a coordinated approach to research delivered the greatest benefits. Dr Greg Constable from CSIRO Plant Industry estimates that plant breeding contributed about 45 per cent of the yield gains, with the other 55 per cent from improved insect control, disease management, plant nutrition and irrigation strategies. Individually these items can have only a limited impact. Packaged together and the Australian industry achieves world records. The move to farming systems approaches means farmers are increasingly examining the interactions between the elements of the production system and the effect they have on cropping outputs. Greater interest in planting trees and establishing wetlands on farms are improving environmental values by providing for greater biodiversity. Other strategies, particularly the Best Management Practices Program, aim to limit negative environmental impacts from cotton production. Each improvement is but a piece in a much larger picture, a picture of a modern agricultural industry maintaining its productivity but not at the cost of its resource base or the environment.