CRDC’s role is to invest in and manage a portfolio of RD&E projects on behalf of cotton growers and the Australian Government. These investments are designed to enhance the environmental, social and economic contribution of cotton, for the benefit of cotton growers, the wider cotton industry, regional communities and the Australian public.

Our corporate outcome is to achieve increased economic, social and environmental benefits for the Australian cotton industry, and the wider community, by investing in knowledge, innovation and its adoption.

We have four key stakeholders – the Australian Government through the Minister for Agriculture; the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment; the cotton industry’s representative organisation, Cotton Australia; and cotton growers, including Cotton Grower Associations – and we are funded through an industry levy and matching Commonwealth contributions. In 2019–20, we invested $16.7 million in RD&E into 234 projects.

We recognise that collaboration is essential to the delivery of RD&E outcomes. As such, we partner with researchers, research organisations and growers to deliver RD&E projects and outcomes.

In 2019–20, CRDC partnered with 99 research partners, including:

• Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
• Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QLD)
• Department of Primary Industries (NSW)
• Other state government departments
• CSIRO
• Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs)
• Cotton Grower Associations
• Cotton Innovation Network
• Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd
• Crop Consultants Australia
• Australian Association of Cotton Scientists
• Australian Farm Institute
• Australian Rural Leadership Foundation
• Other Rural Research and Development Corporations
• Universities
• Agribusinesses
• Supply chain and trade partners
• International partners, including Cotton Incorporated
• Specialised consultants.

Cotton growers across all valleys directly contribute to RD&E through conducting on-farm trials, a critical component of the RD&E process. In addition to their financial contribution through direct on-farm costs and opportunity costs, growers also provide their time, knowledge and expertise to research trials.