CRDC is seeking partners to join a critical new initiative: the Australian Cotton Disease Collaboration.
Disease is a major priority issue for the Australian cotton industry. It contributes to significant yield losses and undermines long-term confidence in growing cotton. In extreme cases, some growers have opted out of cotton in response to severe and escalating disease pressure.
CRDC has invested in cotton disease research over several decades. Nevertheless, disease is still one of the leading limitations in the cotton production system.
As a result, in the new CRDC Strategic RD&E Plan 2023-28: Clever Cotton, CRDC is proposing a new collaborative approach to disease research to mitigate the economic impacts of disease. CRDC’s goal is to reduce the economic impact of current and emerging diseases of cotton to less than five per cent of the cost of production by 2028 through practice change and RD&E.
To achieve this, CRDC is committing $10 million to disease RD&E over the five years of Clever Cotton. This will be achieved via the Australian Cotton Disease Collaboration (ACDC).
ACDC is a comprehensive national disease program to understand the impact of disease, enhance foundational pathology resources and capability, and deliver tactical management and innovative technical solutions for cotton growers.
CRDC is now seeking partners for a long-term strategic partnership via ACDC.
Partners will be selected based on their clear strategic alignment to ACDC and CRDC, their willingness to co-invest, and their commitment to co-design. If you’re interested in being part of the cotton disease solution, download the EOI. Responses are due Monday 21 August.
