This project aimed to identify means to improve nutrient use‐efficiency in Australian

cotton production systems and to improve soil health/fertility. The NutriLOGIC DSS

provides an updated resource for cotton growers to manage soil fertility and cotton

nutrition. This program provides recommendations to optimise crop nutrition

through interpreting soil and plant analyses.

N use‐efficiency has been benchmarked and indicates the cotton industry

substantially over‐uses N fertiliser. The industry can safely reduce N fertiliser inputs

by about 25% without reducing yield.

The cotton industry can become carbon positive by adopting minimum tillage

practices, by incorporating all crop stubble, by including legume crops in the

rotation and reducing fallow times. Producing cotton using sustainable soil and crop

management and reducing our net CO2e emissions will greatly assist marketing

Australian cotton.

Soil health can be improved dramatically with legume cropping. Marked

improvements can be seen in the soil physical environment, chemical fertility and

biological activity in those cropping systems that include legumes. For example, the

cotton‐vetch‐fallow‐cotton rotation remains the highest‐yielding system and requires

very little N fertiliser and therefore produces low carbon emissions.