Currently,   the   legal   and   regulatory   frameworks   around   agricultural   data   are   piecemeal,   fragmented and  ad hoc.  The  aim  of  this  part  of  the  P2D project  is  twofold:  first,  to  outline  the   current  state  of  data  rules  dealing  with  data  ownership,  access,  use,  liability  and  licensing  in   Australian   agriculture; and second, to   recommend   an   effective, efficient and   ethical data   governance  framework  for  Australian  agriculture. 

This  Report has  four  parts:   

1. Introduction, 

2. Data  ownership,  control  and  access, 

3. Data  privacy,  safety  and  security,  and 

4. Data:  trust,  transparency  and  certification. In   this  Executive   Summary,  we   provide   our   key   findings  on   the   current   state   of  agricultural   data   governance   and   present   recommendations   to   ensure that   the   legal   and   regulatory   framework  for  Australian  agriculture  is  digital  and  data  ready.

Siphon-less irrigation systems continue to be installed on co􀆩on farms replacing manual siphon irrigation. However, there has been limited measurement of irrigation performance for bankless irrigation systems in all their various forms. Growers utilising these systems tend to be  comfortable with their new siphon-less systems with their comparisons in water use and yields being maintained, or improved, following the change. A CRDC supported project CSD2201 was completed in 2021-22 with the broad aim to op􀆟mise application of water in a particular tailwater backup system. Informa􀆟on from CSD2201 and the GVIA Keytah System Comparison trial RRDP2004, indicate that the GPWUI from these systems is comparable to other irrigation application systems in use. Research indicates that the water use efficiency from them is influenced more by season than by system type, and that optimising individual irrigation event management of each system is most important.

This CSD2201 trial demonstrated that irrigation performance could be optimised in the first half of the field where the tailwater was not backing up. The existing SISCO evaluation process cannot use data from sensors where water is flowing in two directions simultaneously in an irrigation event, and as such the opportunity 􀆟me in the area where tailwater is backed up, cannot be simulated. Work is being done to understand this and inform future developments of the SISCO model.

The challenge all surface irrigators have when managing individual irrigation events is knowing when to turn-off (cut-off) supply water. That is, what dura􀆟on of inflow should be managed to op􀆟mise the uniformity and reduce excess application, by shutting-off the in-flow with the supply gates on a bay, and shift supply to the next bay. This is important because if the water is stopped too early or too late, it can result in poor irrigation performance with under or over irrigating of the bay or parts of the bay. Increased deep drainage (lower application efficiency) and runoff will occur if over watered. If under-watered the tail drain end or downstream sections of the field may not have its deficit met (lowering requirement efficiency), adversely impacting crop production. The additional challenge when managing tailwater backup bankless systems, is to know when to also open the initially closed tailwater gates to maximise infiltration of tailwater in the bottom part of the field, and minimise excess tailwater pumping. This project is proposing to investigate options to inform gate shut-off with the ai

Annual consultant qualitative and quantitative surveys 2022 – 2024 is complete and this report is an overview 
of the coverage, learnings and outcomes of this iteration of the Cotton Consultants’ surveys. This is a long-term project 
aimed at gathering Cotton Production Data and seasonal trends for the Australian Cotton Industry and spans a period of 
25 plus years. 

This year, participants began their journey in Canberra, starting with a Welcome to Country by Paul House outside the National Gallery, who also took the opportunity to share stories of his lifelong advocacy work and the ways he has influenced change. The cohort then gathered at Old Parliament House for a fireside yarn with leaders from four advocacy groups shaping rural, regional, and remote Australia. This session featured Suzi Tegen (National Rural Health Alliance), Natalie Collard (Farmers for Climate Action), Troy Williams (National Farmers’ Federation) and Ken Dachi (Welcoming Australia). Together, they explored the critical role advocacy plays in shaping policy and driving meaningful change across rural, regional, and remote Australia. Following this session, participants engaged with political staffers at Parliament House, gaining firsthand insights into government advocacy processes. These discussions prompted deep reflection on contemporary leadership amidst complex challenges and opportunities within their own sectors and communities, laying a solid foundation for self-advocacy. Next, participants moved into the challengebased outdoor phase of the program, set within the stunning Namadgi National Park. Through a series of outdoor challenges which included bushwalking, abseiling, caving and raft building, participants engaged in thought-provoking discussions, reflecting on their behaviours, mindsets and values. These activities encouraged them to explore alternative perspectives on leadership and challenges, deepening their understanding of how others navigate complexity. The final stage of the program featured ARLF Fellow Dan Bourchier (ABC journalist) and Jonothan Watchman from Rabbit and Lion, who led a series of practical workshops on crafting and delivering messages effectively. Participants learned how to communicate with impact across diverse audiences and media platforms, aided by applying their understanding of DISC behavioural profiling to their messaging, equipping them with the skills to engage stakeholders with confidence. As the program drew to a close, participants gathered around the fire for an evening with Her Excellency the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn AC, where she shared her personal leadership journey, the challenges she has faced and how she has created meaningful impact throughout her career. The experience concluded with participants developing and sharing personal leadership action plans, affirming their commitment to continued growth and their future leadership impact within their industries, communities and beyond.

In the period 2010-2014 the notion of telecommunications as a ‘critical infrastructure’ for rural and regional Australia, and in particular in agriculture had well and truly taken root. Momentum has since grown to the point that during 2015-17 a number of national inquiries concerning telecommunications have been initiated, and in some cases completed. During the period of August 2016 – June 2017, a series of eight workshops, numerous phone interviews and site visitations around Australia sought to understand the current status of on-farm telecommunications at the farm level in support of a digital agriculture future. This review has sought a ‘producer-eye’ view, seeking to understand the dimensions of key enabling telecommunications utilized by producers, factors constraining the uptake or adoption of available enabling technologies, as well as investigating the future telecommunications needs and opportunities. Information has been solicited from not only producers, but also providers of technologies and data services to producers, as well as those developing those technologies and services.

There has been a significant increase in the development of end-to-end telecommunications technologies and services offered to producers. So-called ‘second tier’ telecommunications providers offer their own transmission backhaul capability and in some cases associated cloud based services. Second tier providers will help extend the value and potential of existing NBN and mobile telecommunication networks. The role of telecommunications in supporting a digital agriculture future is not necessarily technology constrained; if a farm has access to the mobile network somewhere on the farm, or NBN into the farm house then there is technology available to beam it to where it is needed. The real constraint is likely to be around who assumes technical risk, service and price. Entirely new, innovative, methods of extending connectivity over remote regions are in the R&D pipeline; even surfacing for the first time during the period of this review. Others have been around for some time and overlooked; it is time to visit or revisit them.

The on-farm telecommunications market is rapidly evolving but education is one of the biggest challenges faced by those looking for solutions and those offering solutions. Industry needs well-curated case studies and education must target not only consumers of telecommunications services but also technology developers and service providers. 

Producer frustrations around existing telecommunications in Australia are fed by a perception that their challenges are not being acknowledged, nor responded to, by network operators or at the industry or national strategic level. There is a lack of appropriate quantitative data around data use ‘behaviour’ of producers and of the capability of existing or planned network infrastructure to cater for that data use. At a national strategic level there is no centralized knowledge of mobile network data carrying capacity, by location. How can we future proof data connectivity for Australian producers without such basic information? 

Bearing in mind the critical need for education at all levels, this review includes an introduction to the key telecommunications technologies and services utilized, or at least on offer, to Australian producers and a small number of illustrative case studies of producers and service providers. The report also includes a discussion of future opportunities and the provision of recommendations aimed at further enabling Australian producers to realize a big-data future for their farming business. 

The ultimate purpose of this review, was to deliver “recommendations for data communications to improve decision making- or decision agriculture”. Thirteen summary recommendations were published: 

Recommendation 1 - Establish an independent group, tasked to oversee mobile telecommunications development and execution strategies aimed at national coverage, including equitable access in rural and regional areas and future proofing in light of changes in usage and growth and complexity in web based services available to producers. 

Recommendation 2 - Develop a national mobile network coverage (data speed and volume) database based on datasets held by Australian Communications and Media Authority and the application of standardized network conditions. 

Recommendation 3 - Relevant producer Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), in collaboration or individually assess total data usage behavior (diurnal and seasonal) of producers related to the business and lifestyle of farming. 

Recommendation 4 - Carriage Service Providers (CSPs) make available location-based cell data carrying capacity (as related to speed) to potential/existing consumers of carriage services. This could be made available via a website to allow producers to plan ‘data movements’ and related data generating/consumption activities.

Recommendation 5 – A Universal Services Obligation that recognizes data in all its forms as opposed to data in support of voice (VOIP), with inclusions around the definition of baseline broadband service that recognizes data ‘speed’. 

Recommendation 6 - State and federal authorities, and relevant codes related to monitoring, enforcing or mediating on issues of compliance and delivery of telecommunications services to consumers, acknowledge the critical importance of data speeds in consideration of ‘service’ and ‘access’.

Recommendation 7 - A satellite broadband ‘Fair Use’ policy that factors in periods of increased demand associated with ‘significant farm operational activities’, for example harvesting 

Recommendation 8- Multi-point NBN satellite access, including mobile access be granted to rural properties on the basis of criteria related to multiple occupancy and property size. 

Recommendation 9 - Improving wireless backhaul infrastructure to cater for the growing demand for supporting on-farm networks, including efficient methods of using spectrum (including white space) and physical assets.

Recommendation 10 - NBN offer information packages aimed at guiding web service providers on necessary optimisations (e.g. HTTPS versus HTTP) to enable web platforms to function via Sky Muster. 

Recommendation 11 - Extend the ACCC Broadband performance monitoring program to include those modes of access to Australian farms, specifically with the aim of understanding broadband access experience related to the business and lifestyle of farmers.

Recommendation 12 – RDCs develop educational packages, including case studies illustrating on-farm telecommunications technology options for their stakeholders. 

Recommendation 13 - RDCs establish demonstrator sites (e.g. in partnership with exemplar producers) to let them see firsthand some of the innovations on site.

The P2D project brought together all 15 Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) for the first time to develop six projects that evaluated the current and desired state of digital agriculture in Australia. Recommendations are provided by the P2D project to ensure Australian primary producers are able to overcome the challenges currently limiting digital agriculture and profit from their data.

Eight regional stakeholder workshops were held in five states and producers were surveyed across the nation to better understand the current perceptions and needs for digital agriculture by producers and other stakeholders. The project commissioned six detailed technical reports to address key areas that are constraining digital agriculture moving towards its promised potential in Australia. A Summary Report  has been delivered which brings together the key findings and aggregates the 67 detailed recommendations into 13 key recommendations. It also provides direction on the next steps required to implement the recommendations.

The principle findings of the P2D project are:

• Digital agriculture in Australia is in an immature state in many parts including strategy, culture, governance, technology, data, analytics, and training.5 This is to the detriment of innovation and producer adoption of digital agriculture in Australia.
• With maturity, the economic modelling identified that the implementation of digital agriculture across all Australian production sectors (as represented by the 15 RDCs) could lift the gross value of agricultural (including forestry and fisheries) production by $20.3 billion (a 25% increase on 2014-15 levels).6
• To achieve maturity, cross-industry and cross-sector collaboration is vital as many of the issues impeding maturity are common and this scale of investment is required to implement solutions for Australian conditions and to keep pace with the rest of the world.

The P2D project has detailed a clear value proposition and pathway forward for transformational improvement in Australian farm business management and decision making through digital agriculture. For this potential to be realised, it will be essential for industry, RDCs, government and the commercial sector to commit to work together. 

The P2D project has detailed a value proposition and identified a pathway forward for transformational improvement in Australian farm business management and decision making through digital agriculture. The 67 recommendations from the six P2D technical reports have been aggregated into 13 detailed recommendations. 

Delivery of these recommendations could result in a lift in the gross value agricultural production (GVP) of $20.3 billion. For this potential to be realised, it will be essential for industry, RDCs, government and the commercial sector to commit to work together in each of the following areas: 

• Policy
• Strategy
• Leadership
• Digital literacy

• Enablers.

   

This historic collaboration of RDCs to jointly fund the P2D project has occurred because many of the issues associated with the transition to digital agriculture are not industry specific. Consequently, the recommendations from this project are focused on benefiting all industries. A cross-industry approach to providing the leadership, governance, connectivity, datasets and platforms and increased digital literacy is required.

The project summary recommendations in brief include:

1.      Develop a Data Management Policy for Australian Digital Agriculture.

2.      Develop a voluntary Data Management Code of Practice and a Data Management Certification or Accreditation Scheme.

3.      Policy and investment to improve telecommunications to farms and rural businesses.

4.      New investment models including public/private investment.

5.      RDC’s develop Digital Agriculture Strategy’s and implementation roadmap.

6.      Big Data Reference Architecture and Data Management Implementation Plan.

7.      Establish, review and refine foundational data sets.

8.      Establish a Digital Agriculture Taskforce for Australia (DATA) headed by the Chief Digital Agricultural Officer – to deliver outcomes.

9.      Establish a Digital Agriculture Taskforce for Australia Working Group (DATAWG) – to provide guidance.

10.   Provide education and capacity building to increase digital literacy in the agricultural sector.

11.   Establish baseline patterns of data usage and a national mobile network coverage (data speed and volume) database.

12.   Digitise and automate data collection including for regulatory compliance activities.

13.   Execute a cross Industry Survey every three years to identify producers’ needs and issues in digital agriculture.

Implementing the recommendations from the project will set the stage for increasing the profitability of producers, providing clarity and trust in data ownership and access rights, and stimulating an innovation environment that facilitates the development and adoption of technology. 

The support of all of the Rural Research and Development Corporations and the Australian Government has enabled the P2D project to benefit from a co-ordinated national approach. The thirteen key recommendations provide a clear sight of the way ahead and a next phase of P2D has a compelling case. 

It is recommended that all RDCs co-invest in enacting the recommendations at the national scale and seek co-investment from the Australian Government through the Rural R&D for Profit program. For Australian agriculture to realise the potential $20.3 billion benefit from digital agriculture, the functional engine of digital agriculture needs to be operational. 

Recommendations from this report detail the key strategy components of policy, strategy, leadership, digital literacy and enablers that must be addressed for the elements of trust, confidence, functional delivery and operational effectiveness to achieve data driven practice change by producers.

The P2D project has detailed a clear value proposition and pathway forward for transformational improvement in Australian farm business management and decision making through digital agriculture. For this potential to be realised, it is essential for industry, RDCs, government and the commercial sector to work together. The P2D project has the benefit of being supported by all of the RDCs and the Australian Government, enabling a co-ordinated national approach. The thirteen recommendations provide clear sight of the way ahead and a next phase of P2D has a compelling case. 

The next steps in delivery of a successful digital agriculture program will enable Australian agriculture to remain internationally competitive and at the forefront of best practice for production, environment and community benefit. 

It is recommended that the P2D Project Management Committee agrees in principle to: 

1. All RDCs co-invest in enacting the recommendations at the national scale via a Phase 2 P2D project and seek co-investment from the Australian Government through Round 4 of the Rural R&D for Profit program.
2. Nominated RDC representatives on the P2D Project Steering Committee lead the process of developing a detailed joint investment submission to the Australian Government Rural R&D for Profit Program.
3. Support the agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries to convene the Digital Agriculture Taskforce for Australia (DATA) and Working Group (DATAWG) to advise on good data policy for the sector.

The Council of Rural Research and Development Corporation CEOs unanimously agreed in principle in December 2017 to support a process of implementing next steps in delivery of these recommendations. The P2D summary Report was released by the Hon. David Little proud, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources at on the 6 March at Outlook 2018. 

The DAN2203 Limited Water Decision Support project (LWDS) assessed the use of partial irrigation within the Australian cotton industry. The project sought to identify the extent and methods used that maximise the returns on water resources. It investigated the challenges for sustainable water management in the face of increasing production and business risks due to unpredictable rainfall and a variable water supply.

The scope of the technical report includes an assessment of partial irrigation practices where the crop’s evapotranspiration demand is not fully met with irrigation water. It provides an analysis of strategies employed by growers to effectively manage limited water resources and it discusses strategies used to maximise bales per megalitre or gross margin ($) per megalitre rather than bales per hectare.

The Australian cotton industry is confronted with the dual challenge of enhancing production and profitability while managing finite water resources. The unpredictability of water supply, exacerbated by climate change, poses significant risks to both growers and the industry. Partial irrigation is a practice adopted most commonly in response to low water availability such as drought. It can also be adopted by growers to maximise returns from available water.

Over the last 30 years, growers have adopted key strategies to manage irrigation water in periods with low availability. These strategies include water budgeting, strategic water application, and agronomic management such as field and row configuration, variety selection, and fertiliser management. Whilst there is evidence that water productivity can be improved by reducing the water applied per hectare without significant yield penalty, results are confounded by water use efficiency measures, the variation in the volume of water applied and row spacings. Additionally, there is little consistency in the terminology used to describe irrigation tactics to maximise water productivity.

In conclusion, partial irrigation is currently a minor subset of irrigated cotton systems that is mostly used by growers when water supply is reduced. The practice varies between growers depending on their farm and situation. Growers and their advisers may prefer to do what they are familiar with and know to do well (i.e., full irrigation). This may seem like a less risky or stressful decision, and avoid the extra complexity, decision making and risk of partial irrigation. The decision is to grow less area with more water, or plant a larger area and cut out area if there is insufficient water.

Soilborne diseases of cotton such as Verticillium wilt (VW, caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb, VD) and Fusarium wilt (FW, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum, FOV) are a significant threat to cotton quality and productivity and have been identified as key areas for investment by the Australian cotton industry. These cotton diseases have unique characteristics in Australia; therefore, the country cannot rely on disease control approaches developed in different countries/conditions, and a sustainable integrated disease management (IDM) solution tailored to Australian conditions is urgently needed. Plants have developed sophisticated mechanisms to exploit the benefits provided by their co-associated microbes (i.e., the plant/soil microbiome) for disease suppression. Harnessing the functions provided by the plant microbiome can provide an effective approach to sustainably mitigate the impact of soilborne diseases on cotton productivity. This project employed a multidisciplinary approach to contribute to developing a sustainable IDM system to control and predict FW and VW in Australian cotton.

This report represents a continuation of “Impacts and Solutions: A scoping study on the relative impacts of irrigation infrastructure on fish in the Fitzroy Basin” (Hutchison et al. 2022). This original study was initiated to understand how different types of irrigation infrastructure and hydrological conditions contributed to entrainment of fishes into irrigation systems. This knowledge assisted with development of a prioritisation matrix, to direct mitigation measures to where there was the greatest need.

In the current study, supplementary data was collected to boost the statistical power of the original data set. The aim was to determine if the patterns observed in the original study were maintained and supported by statistical significance to provide more confidence in the recommendations from the original report. The increased data set and revised statistical analyses would also assist with refinement of the original prioritisation matrix.

Analysis of the enhanced data set largely confirmed the patterns observed in the original study. A comparison of a gravity fed and pumped offtakes from Fairbairn Dam in the original data set indicated that fish were entrained at greater rates through the gravity fed diversion than the pumped diversion (Hutchison et al. 2022). With the inclusion of the supplementary data, this was statistically significant for several species and size classes, and across all species combined. Inlet flow rates had little impact on this result. Gravity fed diversions should be a high priority for mitigation with modern self-cleaning screening systems.

For irrigation systems that pump water from rivers, there was a general tendency for increased numbers of fish to be entrained per unit time as pumping rate (ML per day) increased. The number of different species entrained per unit time also increased with pumping rate. This trend was consistent across many species, although not statistically significant for most due to high variability in catch rates between different flow events. The steepness of the relationship between pump rate and fish entrained per unit time varied between species. When considering entrainment rates on a volumetric basis, there was still a positive relationship evident, but the upward trend was more gradual than might have been expected. These results suggest that pumping rate does have an impact on entrainment rates, but the effect of pumping rates is probably less important than some other factors such as flow type and intake location and depth.

The current study confirmed that flow type has a significant influence on entrainment rates. In the original study, entrainment rates were found to be very low on overbank (flood) flows. This trend continued with the addition of supplementary data. Low entrainment rates on flood flows are probably partly due to the dilution effect of large volumes of water and partly due to fish inhabiting habitats inundated over the banks and away from the irrigation intakes. When water levels drop back to the main river channel, fish are more vulnerable to entrainment. In the original study it was suggested that natural within bank flows had a tendency for marginally higher entrainment rates than allocated (supplemental) within-bank flows. With the addition of the supplementary data, it is apparent that natural within-bank flows can lead to entrainment rates approximately double that of entrainment rates on allocated (supplemental) flows. This is probably because fish migrations are more likely to be triggered on natural flow events. In general, larvae are entrained at higher rates on natural flow events, although carp gudgeon larvae are entrained more frequently on allocated flows. This probably reflects the fact that species with pelagic larvae tend to spawn on natural flow events.

The current study also confirmed that for most species and size classes of fish (including overall entrainment rates for all species combined), bankside shallow intakes generally entrained far fewer fish than other inlet types (e.g., bankside deep intakes, mid-channel deep intakes and intakes from side channels perpendicular to the river). Inlet location and depth appears to be more important than pump rate.

Based on these findings a prioritisation matrix has been developed to assist with decision making on where investment in mitigation measures (e.g. screening with modern self-cleaning fish screens) should be directed to have the most impact. The matrix is virtually identical to that produced by Hutchison et al. (2022) with some minor changes to one of the factors.

The factors used in the matrix include pumping rate, pump intake position and depth (intake configuration), flow types pumped and annual licensed allocation (total volume licensed to pump of any flow type).The metrics used for three of the four factors remain unchanged from Hutchison et al. (2022), but within the factor flow type, the weighting for natural within-bank flows has been updated to reflect that these flows on average have double the entrainment rate of allocated (supplemental) flows. By cross multiplying the metrics for these different categories, an overall score can be derived for different pumps in a river. The highest scoring pumps will be those predicted to be in the greatest need of mitigation action. However, for mitigation actions, feasibility and cost, based on the specific site characteristics also need to be considered. In some cases, better outcomes for fish per unit cost may be achieved by screening several slightly lower ranked pumps, rather than expending a large amount of resources on a single highly ranked pump that is logistically difficult or expensive to screen. A more cost-effective time to consider screening can be when pumps have reached the end of their useful life and require replacement.

The following recommendations have been derived from this research project.

1.      Data from this project suggests that gravity fed diversions have a high impact, but only one such diversion was monitored. Further investigations into impacts of riverine gravity fed diversions are recommended.

2.      Pumped diversions can be prioritised using a four-part scoring system that considers flow type being pumped, intake configuration (location and depth), pump rate and total volume pumped per annum. Consideration also needs to be given to the costs and feasibility of screening a site as part of the prioritisation process.

3.      Future pumped irrigation developments should consider factoring in screening at the design and construction phase when it will be most cost-effective to install screens, compared to retrofitting them later. When existing pumps reach the end of their useful life, screening of the replacement pump should also be considered because it will be more cost effective.

Synthetic biology (SynBio) encompasses approaches that design and construct new biological
elements (e.g. enzymes, genetic circuits, cells) or redesign existing biological systems to build new
and improved functions. SynBio ‘upgrades’ the potential of genetic engineering, which involves the
transfer of single genes from one organism to another. SynBio enables the introduction of multiple
genes in a single transgenic event, either from a donor organism or synthetically generated. It can
also enable the assembly of novel genomes from the ground up from a set of standardised genetic
parts, which can then be transferred into the target cell or organism. SynBio also offers a number of
non-breeding applications, such as topical applications in replacement of chemical pesticides, which
can be further utilised by stable transformation.
Conventional breeding techniques have successfully introduced several beneficial agronomic traits
into cotton, such as fibre quality attributes, crop maturity and disease resistance. The adoption of
modern biotechnology approaches has enabled developments beyond the capacity or efficiency of
conventional breeding, such as broad-scale insect and herbicide resistance. However, cotton yields
continue to be challenged by abiotic and biotic factors. In addition, while progress in traditional
breeding is yet to reach a ceiling, genetic diversity in cultivated cotton germplasm is limited (Wendel
et al., 1992, Iqbal et al., 2001). Therefore, more advanced cotton cultivar development approaches
are required to maintain and improve cotton yields and production efficiency, especially as climate
change increases the incidence of biotic and abiotic challenges.
This report describes several applications of synthetic biology to the cotton industry. The most
promising synthetic biology tools and approaches are discussed. Five major areas of potential
application of SynBio are discussed, with the following conclusions:
Insect pests: Potential long-term investment in developing RNAi trait against silverleaf whitefly.
Fungal diseases: Currently constrained by significant fundamental knowledge gaps.
Carbon assimilation: Research currently supported by CRDC in preparation for SynBio application in
the next 3 - 6 years. Additional opportunities (i.e. aquaporins) exist, warranting further research.
Nutrient acquisition: Long and short-term (scoping) investment opportunities in fundamental
research towards microbe attracting/enhancing root exudates via CRISPR-Cas9 or Golden Gate.
Seed oil quality: Currently an unviable investment opportunity in Australia.
Importantly, the challenges facing SynBio application in cotton include the need for more in-depth
fundamental genetic information and the need for a transformation system that is available for elite
cotton germplasm.