Senator Richard Colbeck, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, today approved the Cotton Research and Development Corporation's (CRDC) operating plan for the forthcoming financial year.

CRDC’s Annual Operating Plan (AOP) outlines the key R&D objectives, activities and challenges for 2005/06 and sets out levels of investment for six strategic research programs:

• ‘People and Knowledge’ will receive $1.4 million,
• ‘Integrated Natural Resource Management’ $1.2 million,
• ‘Crop Protection’ $3.1 million,
• ‘Farming Systems’ $2.1 million,
• ‘Breeding and Biotechnology’ $1.9 million and
• ‘Value Chain’ almost $0.5 million.

“I would like to congratulate the Corporation for continuing to meet the needs of industry and the community in the face of reduced income due to the impact of drought.” said Senator Colbeck.

“The AOP indicates that the CRDC is managing this challenge well and I believe this will result in the CRDC becoming a stronger and more resilient Corporation when the growing seasons return to more normal conditions” he added.

Welcoming the Senators comments, Executive Director of CRDC, Mr Bruce Finney, said “Drought related income constraints have continued to limit the Corporations resources. However, by placing increased emphasis on co-investment with a wide range of organisations, we have been able to engineer greater value from our budgets, and guarantee a significant return to both industry and government on their investment in CRDC’s programs.”
One of the most significant challenges and opportunities highlighted in the AOP is the establishment of the new Cotton Catchment Communities CRC (CCC CRC) which begins operations on 1st July.

“CRDC is the largest single investor in the new CCC CRC, with an annual commitment of $4 million, of which $3.9 million is tied to specific research priorities” said Mr Finney.

“Its new focus on catchments and communities opens opportunities for CRDC to further address its triple bottom line objectives through CRC-related investments, and we expect that this broader focus will result in an enhanced cotton research effort, both in terms of quantity and scope”.

The coming year will also see a greater research focus on achieving high quality fibre - ensuring that Australian cotton continues to sell at the premium end of the international market in the face of increasing competition.

“A continued focus for the Corporation is investment to achieve consistent quality fibre - from field to fabric” Mr Finney said.

“Further investment in biotechnology to address fibre quality issues in cotton plants, farming systems that improve or maintain quality and an increased investment portfolio in post farm gate processing will all ensure that Australian cotton remains a premium product and remains competitive in the global marketplace” he added.

Increasing investment in the farming system is another highlight of the forthcoming year, with an even greater emphasis on water use efficiency, research into the implications of deep drainage on salinity and enhanced coordination of farming systems research and extension.

In conclusion, Mr Finney added “The coming year certainly will be a challenging one, and the staff and Board of the CRDC very much look forward to continuing the effective and productive relationships we have established with research providers and all of our government and industry stakeholders”.