The 2026-28 CRDC Researchers' Handbook is a key resource for all researchers working with or seeking investment from CRDC.

The Handbook outlines the key information researchers need to know, including the application process, funding and stipends available, the payment, evaluation and reporting processes and the CRDC’s intellectual property policy. These, and other critical details needed by researchers - like CRDC's grant management system, Fluxx - are provided in the Handbook.

WEEDpak is an integrated weed management (IWM) guide developed specifically for the Australian cotton industry. It provides growers and agronomists with strategies to combine various control methods to achieve sustainable and cost-effective weed control.

These two publications – an update to components of WEEDpak and a series of CottonInfo fact sheets – were updated in 2019 as part of Graham Charles's CRDC-supported PhD study: Developing the weed control threshold (DAN1601).

This document provides a brief outline of the projects CRDC has invested in for 2026-27 (current as of June 2026).

CRDC's Annual Operational Plan for 2025-26 (AOP): the fourth annual operational plan under the CRDC's Strategic RD&E Plan 2023-28.

The 2026-27 Australian Cotton Production Manual is a critical reference tool for cotton growers. The manual is a one-stop-shop for growers, outlining all the various decisions that need to be made on-farm in preparation for, and during, cotton production. The manual provides an understanding of cotton physiology, and discusses important considerations for both productivity and profitability. The Australian Cotton Production Manual is published by CRDC and CottonInfo and is updated every second year to incorporate the latest research and improvements in industry best practice. The 2026-27 edition is current for the 2026 and 2026 years. 

The Winter 2026 edition of Spotlight focuses on how Australia’s cotton industry is managing risk on farm and building the capability to deal with the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Disease management is a major focus, with the Australian Cotton Disease Collaboration (ACDC) expanding diagnostic services, building a national pathogen collection and improving early detection tools. From faster on‑farm diagnostics to spore trapping and regional surveillance, this work is helping growers identify issues earlier and make more informed management decisions.

Resilience is also front and centre. A new Future Drought Fund project is establishing 25 on‑farm trial sites across NSW, Qld and the NT to test practical approaches to drought preparedness, recovery and water use efficiency. At the same time, new nitrogen work is giving growers the chance to test ways to optimise fertiliser use without compromising yield.

Innovation will be on show at the 2026 Australian Cotton Conference, where 11 CRDC‑supported projects will feature in Innovation Alley. These projects are tackling key challenges such as nitrogen efficiency, pest management and weed detection, giving growers the chance to see what’s coming next and help shape which ideas move forward.

Across this edition, you’ll also find updates on disease work in northern regions, sustainability, data and decision tools, and the latest research being tested on farm. Together, these stories reflect a focus on practical trials, grower involvement and applying research where it counts – in the field. 

Soil moisture assessment is a critical input to improve irrigation scheduling, water use efficiency, and sustainability in broadacre agriculture. However, there can be significant variability in soil moisture across fields and existing sensors typically only measure a single point. Multiple soil moisture sensing technologies have been demonstrated that enable spatial sensing, for example, the Geonics EM38 Mk2 which uses electromagnetic induction and the Skaha Labs P-band Polarimeter which uses P-band polarimetric radar. Both devices represent advanced tools for non-invasive soil moisture assessment, and have different sensing mechanisms and deployment methods, i.e. the EM38 is towed over a field while the polarimetric radar can be drone mounted. This research, supported by a CRDC Summer Research Scholarship, aims to evaluate and compare the performance of these sensors. The project focuses on how effectively each device detects and maps soil moisture under real-world conditions, particularly in the high-clay Vertosol soils of cotton-growing areas in the Darling Downs region and identifying the practical benefits and limitations of each sensor. The study involves field deployment, data collection, and comparative analysis of spatial resolution, depth sensitivity, accuracy, ease of use, and responsiveness to variable moisture levels. Findings from this research will support more informed decisions about soil moisture monitoring tools in Australian cotton systems.

The small project was the capital investment for 2 Licor portable N2O lasers which provide continuous monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions from cotton fields in real time. These were delivered to QUT prior to the 2025/26 season and deployed at two locations - Narrabri (NSW) and Jondaryan (QLD) connected to QUT automated chambers.

Australian cotton production is characterised by high yielding, high quality cropping systems, earning in excess of $2.5b in export revenues annually. Crops are grown under an expanding scope of climatic conditions and diverse agronomic management practices, driven by broad industry use of transgenic technologies. Abiotic stressors and their management are key drivers of lint quality and yield. Australian cotton production systems are predominantly driven by water availability and the compounding impact of deficit on other system constraints. A key industry challenge is to minimise such climate-induced year to year production variability and maintain existing lint quality repute. An industry-led strategic imperative also exists to significantly increase productivity and profitability on cotton farms within 5 years, being partly achieved through both optimising cotton farming systems and protecting them from biotic threats and environmental stresses. This project aimed to address these strategic requisites by increasing crucial independent research capacity and capabilities for applied cotton systems research. The project aimed to investigate responsive agronomic practices for irrigated, rain-fed and abiotically stressed crops by leveraging plant growth regulator chemistry and applying modern sensing technologies and data analytics. This project continued research into the use of crop growth regulators seeking to modify or support crop growth to assist development of novel agronomic approaches to improve production resilience.