Cotton isn’t as thirsty as it used to be, new data shows

Cotton growers are producing more with less water, but have work to do on herbicide and pesticide build-up new data shows.

Cotton isn’t as thirsty as it used to be, industry groups say

Australian cotton growers have improved their water use efficiency but have more work to do to cut down on herbicide and pesticide use, sustainability data shows.

Cotton Australia chief executive Adam Kay said the cotton industry had been on a mission to improve its environmental credentials for decades, and that work was increasingly being rewarded in the market.

“As well as been the right thing to do, it’s what our end users want,” Mr Kay said.

“Brands and retailers that are buying Australian cotton are after (sustainability) data. If you’ve got that data, you can show that your footprint is lower than … the global average for cotton. That’s good for your labelling,” he said.

Data collated by Cotton Australia showed growers have reduced their irrigated water use from 7.67 megalitres a hectare in 2018 to 6.28 megalitres a hectare in 2021.

Growers now use 710,000 litres of water to produce one bale of cotton, a significant improvement on the 830,000 litres used in 2018.

Mr Kay said the industry was working hard to counter the public perception that cotton was a “thirsty crop”.

“Part of the reason for releasing this information and being transparent about this is just to show people how much (water) we do use and how we are driving efficiency.

“Cotton uses the same (amount of water) as corn or soyabeans and a lot less than some other things.”

The industry had reduced its water use by 2.5 per cent per year over the past four years and aimed to continue that trajectory until 2030, Mr Kay said.

But industry data showed a less promising picture when it came to chemicals in the environment.

During the past four years the environmental toxic load score for algae in cotton growing areas increased from 119 to 144, indicating a build up of chemicals in the environment. The environmental toxic load score for bees fell in the same period.

Mr Kay said the data showed the industry had more work to do.

The algae score “would probably be related to herbicide use”, Mr Kay said.

“What we’ve got to do is … move away from residual herbicides that bind onto the soils to chemicals that are contact herbicides that are not residual and have a lesser life. Things like glyphosates that are relatively short-lived.”