The Australian cotton industry collects an enormous amount of data on its social and environmental performance and the significant practice changes that have occurred over many decades. These results are formally reported every five years via Sustainability Reports.
SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE
Since 1992, industry research data shows a trend of improvement in many areas. Producing a bale of irrigated Australian cotton now requires:
- 48% less water
- 97% less insecticides
- 34% less land
PRACTICE CHANGE AND INNOVATION
Australia’s cotton growers are innovators, and rapid adopters of technology. Surveys have shown:
- 93% of farmers use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control pests
- 96% of irrigators have improved their furrow irrigation system or changed to an alternate irrigation system
- 82% use round module pickers that minimise fibre contamination and increase farm safety
- 70% of farmers use soil moisture probes in order to schedule irrigations for maximum water use efficiency
- 90% use satellite navigation systems in tractors to map and monitor yield and performance
- 84% use a smart phone or tablet for accessing information about their farming system
- 36% used manures or composts as part of their nutrition program
- 91% used autosteer for most machinery operations
- Nearly 1 in 3 Australian cotton growers generated and used solar energy
MORE INFORMATION
Australian Grown Cotton Sustainability Report 2021
2019 Cotton Grower Survey