We use the CRDC Strategic RD&E Plan 2018–23 to guide our investments. Through this Strategic Plan, in 2019–20 we invested to help increase productivity and profitability on Australian cotton farms; improve cotton farming sustainability and value chain competitiveness; build the adaptive capacity of the Australian cotton industry; strengthen partnerships and adoption; and drive RD&E impact.

We achieved a balanced RD&E portfolio that considers the distribution of our investment across:

• The RD&E strategies
• The type of research, including innovation, knowledge creation, knowledge transfer and application, benchmarking, industry capacity, and education
• In-project risks
• Researcher experience and capacity
• Research providers
• Timeframe to outcomes
• The likely return on investment for projects and programs
• Expenditure on RD&E management.

In 2019–20, we invested $16.7 million in RD&E. Of this, $7.6 million was invested in new research commencing in 2019–20.

Projects by CRDC program area

* Excludes budgeted employee and supplier expenditure and corporate research activities that support R&D planning and adoption. Some percentages have been rounded up or down.

Investment by program

Total number of CRDC projects

Further detail on CRDC’s projects can be found in Section 4: RD&E Portfolio, and in Appendix 3: RD&E Portfolio.