Background

Smarter Irrigation for Profit is a national collaborative research, development and extension project involving sixteen partners, four commodities and nineteen farmer learning sites. It aims to enable irrigators to improve their productivity and profit. It is part of the Australian Government’s Rural Research and Development for Profit program.

Sub-projects within Smarter Irrigation for Profit are focused on irrigation scheduling technologies, and precise, low cost, automation for a range of irrigation systems. A national network of farmer-managed learning sites, located in major irrigation regions and referred to as “optimised irrigation” farms, provides irrigators with practical demonstrations of the research. 

The project is based on the premise that improving the application, scheduling and automation of irrigation will reduce costs (such as labour and energy) and increase water productivity, resulting in increased profit. Sustainability outcomes, such as less deep drainage and water-logging, are expected as longer term consequences.

This knowledge harvest report integrates information from across the sub-projects in Smarter Irrigation for Profit into a comprehensive body of knowledge. 

There is interest from growers to evaluate the suitability of flood irrigation automation concepts in commercialise irrigation systems. The trial included commercial comparisons between lateral, drip and automated siphon and bankless systems. The priorities were to maintain or improve water-use efficiency, reduce the labour and energy requirements and to identify a system which is cost effective for broad scale adoption by industry.

The project had provided an additional set of system comparison data which reaffirms previous findings that irrigation efficiency is influenced more by the seasonal conditions than it is by the system being used.

The project has demonstrated that the installation of on farm broadband systems will significantly improve the reliability and speed of internet connectivity, something that is of increasing importance as irrigators move towards automation.

The initial steps towards automated flood irrigation have shown that there are challenges and the selection of the right equipment in important. The installation of smart siphons demonstrated that this could be cost effectively achieved, but that there were different approached which could be made. The project also demonstrated that a gradual progression towards automation was possible using the smart siphon and associated management system.

Previous research into the nitrogen (N) nutrition of cotton has primarily focused on the mineral N pool, particularly nitrate, due to its association with synthetic fertilisers. However, it is known that between 40% and 70% of a cotton plant’s N uptake is sourced from the soil pool, which is mostly organic in nature. Current understanding is that nitrate and ammonium are taken-up by the cotton plant following ammonification and nitrification of the soil organic N pool. However, recent advances made by CSIRO towards improving the understanding of the biogeochemistry and dynamics in the soil-plant system of the organic N pool, coupled with a growing recognition of the ability of plants to directly access some forms of organic N, highlighted that the organic N pool may play a significant role in the nutrition of cotton. An implication of this is that soil N is currently only managed from a mineral N perspective whereas with the correct tools and analytical techniques it may be possible to achieve significant improvements in N use efficiency through clearer understanding of the contribution of the organic N pool to cotton N nutrition.

The work conducted as part of this project aimed to address current gaps in knowledge and understanding of the role of organic N in the nutrition of cotton by focusing upon the following objectives and research questions:

1. To determine the importance of the organic N pool relative to nitrate and ammonium for cotton nutrition,
2. To determine the impact of soil type on uptake of organic N relative to nitrate and for cotton nutrition,
3. In high-performance soils, does the organic N pool influence fertiliser N use efficiency?
4. Is uptake of organic N a general phenomenon in cotton or is the relative uptake of nitrate, ammonium, organic N variety-specific, and  
5. To determine the influence of soil testing protocols on observed soil N forms.

It was further hypothesised that:

1. both inorganic and organic N forms would be accessed by all cotton varieties on the two soil types investigated, but that a preference for nitrate over both organic N and ammonium would be more greatly expressed in plants grown in clay-richer and thus sorbent soil, and 
2. modern cotton varieties would also express greater preference for nitrate over organic N compounds than older varieties, as their breeding and genetic engineering will have targeted inorganic nitrogen-rich systems. 

A series of interconnected experiments were conducted over three years at the field, glasshouse and laboratory-scales that included soils with varying clay content, three cotton genotypes (a pre-Bt variety, and two Bollgard® 3 lines), and labelled carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15N) techniques, coupled with novel extraction and analytical approaches.

This project investigated the interplay between consumer motivations, fibre sustainability, and the environmental impact of textiles, with a focus on Australian cotton and competing fibres, including emerging sustainable and recycled options. The study addresses the growing consumer demand for transparency and ethical practices while highlighting the limitations of current tools like life-cycle analyses (LCA) and the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI) when applied to new and legacy fibres. Challenges such as a scarcity of data related to textile processing, consumer wear and washing behaviours and end-of-life disposal, uncertainties in impact assessment, and the lack of industry standards underscore the need for more robust methodologies. Through scenario analysis, the research has evaluated fibre production, processing, and end-of-life practices, emphasizing the potential for circularity. A formal choice experiment (CE) survey linking technical assessments with market preferences was conducted to further assess consumer’s willingness to pay for sustainability attributes.
Three peer review papers have been written. The first describes research that underscores the importance of sustainability in consumer decisions and the textile industry. A willingness to pay (WTP) study revealed a majority (>60%) of Australian consumers were willing to pay a premium for cotton t-shirts with sustainable certifications, highlighting the economic value of environmental and ethical features. A research paper has also critiqued existing LCA frameworks for their inadequacy in assessing circular textile systems, advocating for expanded methodologies to address circular economy principles. And a third paper applied LCA to Australian cotton, exploring circularity strategies like recycling and extended garment lifespan while identifying consumer behaviour during the use phase as a critical determinant of environmental outcomes. Collectively, the findings advance knowledge on fibre sustainability, bridging technical insights and consumer behaviour to support a transition towards more transparent, circular, and responsible textile practices.

The strip and disc farming system is intended to maximise crop residue by reducing disturbance to crop material resulting in delayed decomposition. From the research and findings observed while travelling as well as experiences on the authors own farm (due to travel restrictions from Covid19), it can be concluded that the strip and disc farming system will increase ground cover and crop residue on the soil surface when compared to traditional zero tillage farming systems. With this comes a range of benefits including increasing infiltration and storage of rainfall and increasing water use efficiency to grow more crop per drop. This will increase 
profitability of farmers, particularly in moisture limited environments. The system is not without its challenges, but these can be overcome with management techniques and agronomic advice. More research must be done to quantify the benefits as well as an 
economic analysis to provide clear economic benefits. The strip and disc system is compatible with sprinkler and drip irrigated cotton, as well as dryland cotton production by increasing moisture storage and water use efficiency profitability, but not with conventional furrow irrigation due to the tillage requirements of the system.

This research study is the first step in a new strategic plan around disease, as it will have a foundation of evidence based data that can be integral to inform future developments and investments in disease management. By investing in cutting-edge RD and E, the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) aims to enhance the productivity and sustainability of the nation’s vibrant cotton sector, with positive ripple effects for both the industry and the broader community.

Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT) of the Northern Territory Government is the
lead agency engaged in cotton research, development and extension in the Territory. DITT is
currently concluding Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA)
funded ‘Potential for Broadacre Cropping in the Northern Territory’ project. Most recently,
CRCNA has approved DITT to lead ‘Addressing the Basics of Cropping-system for Sustainable
Growth of Agriculture Sector in the Northern Territory’ project for progressing cotton RD&E in
the Territory for next four years. Growing rain-fed cotton has been identified as a high value
broadacre cropping option for expanding agriculture in the Northern Territory.
The 2024 Australian Cotton Conference was held in the Gold Coast Queensland, at Gold Coast
Convention Centre from 6th to 8th August 2024. Attending the Australian Cotton Conference
was an excellent opportunity for DITT team Staci Stanley and Saeedeh Taghadomi-Saberi to
engage in cotton RD&E.
Staci, Shah and Simon attendance was sponsored by DITT (CRCNA - Project) and The Cotton
Research and Development Corporation (CRDC). The conference presented an opportunity for
DITT team to establish networks/connections, exchange information, ideas, and discuss the
latest advances from the world of cotton science and production with national and international
cotton RD&E stakeholders and learn from their experiences.

This brief provides an update to the previous review (Sentinel Health and Safety Data for Australian Cotton Farms),1 that was commissioned by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation in 2019. The purpose of the document is to provide contemporaneous data to gauge progress against key work health and safety benchmarks that the industry is seeking to attain.

There is a significant current labour shortage across the Australian agricultural industry. While enrolments in agriculture university degrees have increased recently, this trend has not occurred in vocational education and training courses. The ‘Exploring a cotton and grains agricultural apprenticeship/traineeships model’ project investigates how Vocational Educational Training (VET) and formal apprenticeships/traineeships can be utilised to support viable pathways for school leavers and career changers in the cotton and grains industry. 

This report forms the third part of this three-phase research project. Semi-structured interviews with cotton, grains and other agricultural industry participants including growers, apprentices and trainees, Registered Training Organisations and governing bodies were conducted to ascertain the barriers, pathways and opportunities for an agricultural apprenticeship/traineeship. The qualitative data collected during these interviews has been analysed to understand the complex issues that exist for multiple stakeholders, and which have, to date, prevented the establishment of an agricultural apprenticeship that is fit-for-purpose for the cotton and grains industry. The report concludes with recommendations for strategies and partnerships to increase on-farm workforce capacity of the Australian cotton and grains industry. It outlines how the employment of apprentices and trainees with recognised qualifications has the potential to assist in addressing the labour shortage currently being experienced by the Australian cotton and grains industry by facilitating the development of a skilled, dedicated, and enthusiastic workforce that will contribute to improving farm profitability and productivity and increased adaptive capacity.

Over the 3-day conference NACRA representative Abaigh Gleeson, was able to gain an insight into the wider industry and develop these insights for cotton production in Kunnunurra.