Cotton Australia bets on better data
22/05/2024
The online database will combine information drawn from Australian cotton industry research and survey data along with government and publicly available sources. It covers some 70 datasets spanning production, yield, quality, export along with progress towards social and environmental sustainability targets.
Key metrics will be made available to users, such as water use efficiency and pesticide use, uptake of minimum tillage and integrated pest management, the major markets for Australian cotton and the amount of sustainably certified cotton grown each year.
“Access to accurate, current data has become a critical requirement of the cotton supply chain, particularly with a renewed focus on due diligence, greenwashing and on-product claims,” says project coordinator Brooke Summers. “Australia’s cotton growers collect a huge amount of data on their farms, as well as contributing to the collection of industry-wide data via a compulsory research and development levy on every bale of cotton they grow,” she adds.
Partners in the Australian Cotton Data Dashboard include Cotton Research and Development Corporation, the Australian Cotton Shippers Association, International Cotton Advisory Committee, Cotton Seed Distributors and Bayer CropScience. Funding has been provided by the Australian Government’s Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation (ATMAC) programme.
The dashboard can be accessed here.
Image courtesy of Cotton Australia
Share this story:
