This document outlines the process followed to determine the current priority issues for a national irrigation research program. Consultants were engaged to meet with stakeholders to determine their views on priority issues. These views were obtained by faxing a questionnaire to industry representatives, face to face interviews and a series of discussion groups in key centres. The level of response, greater than 60%, indicates a high level of interest amongst irrigators, their representatives, water supply agencies, the scientific community and others in the service sector.

The broad saline valley floors of the south eastern wheatbelt can provide fantastic opportunities for productive saltland management. This has certainly been the case on the Althams' property. By using a mixture of saltbush and perennials, the Althams have created a productive grazing system that provides them with valuable out of season feed. The addition of lucerne on the fresher areas has certainly increased the grazing potential of the site, by providing a low salt, high energy feed source that will complement the saltbush.

Work commissioned by NPSI and undertaken by Matthew Hipsey from the University of Western Australia shows that night time evaporation is significant. This report details the results of the study and will assist in improving the accuracy.

Technical guide to Bats in the NSW New England Region

Factsheet providing general information about the advancements in knowledge of native vegetation in NSW, and how the LWW project has contributed to this. Provides benefits native biodiversity and the proposed key outcomes for woolgrowers.

A simple and accurate assessment of the health of riparian areas in the mid-north of Tasmania is now available, with the Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition (RARC) method adapted for local conditions.

Projects overview in Social and Institutional research Program (SIRP)

The period of operation of the CRDC Strategic Plan 2003–2008 ended in 2008 as it had begun in 2003: with the continuation of an unprecedented, lengthy drought, exacerbated by low cotton prices and increasing competition for available water from irrigated grains, which are enjoying a price boom. In addition, the industry faced uncertainty in its terms of trade with a volatile Australian dollar exchange rate. Despite this, Australian cotton growers continued to produce the highest yields per hectare of premium quality cotton in the world. The low water availability did however mean that the total crop area was the smallest in 30 years. The latest forecast for the 2008 harvest is a crop of 0.6 million bales, estimated to be worth $275 million in export value, compared with a historical average of near $1 billion. Looking further back, cotton production in Australia has been well below normal levels for the last six drought-affected years. In the final year of operation under the Strategic R&D Plan, the Corporation was able to maintain R&D investments at a level that underpinned the achievement of the Plan’s strategic outcomes. This report highlights the importance of those outcomes to the industry and Australia.

As we enter the 21st Century, the cotton industry and its research base are riding the “third wave” – a period of new challenges which must be tackled cooperatively. During the 1950s cotton production in Australia was practically non-existent, even though the crop had been grown since the time of the First Fleet. The modern industry began in 1961 when two Californian growers planted a commercial crop at Wee Waa on the Namoi River, sparking the “first wave”. Prior to 1980 Australian cotton producers were completely dependent on American varieties. The “second wave” came with the development of the CSIRO’s cotton breeding program, enabling the gradual introduction of new varieties tailored to Australian conditions. By the 1990s Australian varieties dominated the market and were delivering improved yields, fibre quality and agronomic characteristics. The Australian cultivars enabled the industry to expand significantly and rapidly. In the last 20 years the area planted to cotton has tripled while production has grown from 435,000 bales in 1980 to 3.4 million bales in 2001 – an increase of 700 per cent. This would not have happened without a strong and coordinated R&D effort.