A $13 million partnership has been forged to safeguard Australian cotton growers against the rising threat of disease and mitigate the economic impacts.
- The partnership—the Australian Cotton Disease Collaboration (ACDC)—will be between the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC), University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) and the QLD Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF).
- The ACDC was launched in July 2023 as a solo $10 million reserach project of the CRDC.
- The CRDC is now making its largest ever single investment in a first-of-its-kind collaborative approach to cotton disease research in the backdrop that disease is already having a significant impact on Australian cotton growers, and climate change threatening to increase the spread.
- Disease is a critical challenge for Australia’s cotton industry—contributing to significant yield losses which undermine long-term confidence in growing cotton. In extreme cases, disease pressure is forcing some growers to opt out of cotton production.
- Recent research commissioned by the CRDC has found that across the cotton industry, disease is causing an 8% reduction in yield. For growers directly affected by disease, they are seeing an average reduction in yield of 12%. In extreme cases, it can be as high as 100%: the entire crop is at risk.
THE COLLABORATION: ACDC changes the game for growers, delivering a comprehensive coordinated national disease programme that will help understand the impact of disease, enhance foundational pathology resources and capability, and deliver tactical management and innovative technical solutions.
- The CRDC’s goal is to reduce the economic impact of current and emerging diseases of cotton to less than 5% of the cost of production—down from 14%—by 2028 through practice change and research, development and extension (RD&E).
- The first initiative announced under the CRDC’s new five-year strategic RD&E Plan, Clever Cotton, ACDC embodies the industry’s bold, ambitious new approach to solving industry-defining challenges: a shift away from smaller projects to bigger investments with bigger outcomes and bigger impact.
- ACDC and UniSQ also announced the appointment of inaugural Director, Associate Professor Sambasivam Periyannan, a plant pathologist at UniSQ, with expertise in crop-pathogen interactions.
WHAT THEY SAID:
While CRDC has invested in cotton disease research over several decades, the impact disease is having on growers’ profitability and productivity is increasing. A new approach is needed to overcome this persistent, leading limitation in the cotton production system.
— Elsie Hudson
Innovation Broker
Cotton Research and Development Corporation
Through cutting-edge research and collaborative efforts, we are paving the way for effective cotton disease management strategies that will enhance industry resilience and sustainability. The initiative exemplifies our dedication to translating research into actionable solutions that will empower cotton growers and strengthen the future of Australian agriculture.
— Professor John Bell
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation)
University of Southern Queensland
As a nationwide collaborative project, ACDC brings multiple experts from various agencies together to tackle disease in cotton. Importantly, this project will look to extend beyond national borders, and collaborate with cotton researchers from leading cotton-producing countries overseas, namely, USA, India, China, Brazil, and Pakistan. Through knowledge and material sharing, this global network will ensure the Australian cotton industry's preparedness and contribution to the global cotton industry's resilience against outbreaks of new strains of cotton pathogens.
— Associate Professor Sambasivam Periyannan
Plant Pathologist
University of Southern Queensland
