Cotton news

NSW cotton growers, researchers and ginners hosted leading Australian fashion and textile industry figures at an exclusive cotton industry tour on 27 April, 2016. The industry tour incorporated a visit to Auscott Narrabri farm during harvest, Auscott gin to see cotton processing and the Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI) to meet some of the world’s leading cotton scientists.

The 2016 National Association of Plant Breeders Annual Meeting is being held in Raleigh, North Carolina August 15-18. The meeting provides unique opportunities for private and public sector plant breeders from 40+ crops to share innovative breeding strategies, discuss emerging technologies, and ultimately develop improved varieties.

Australian and U.S. scientists participated in the jointly held World Cotton Research Conference and International Cotton Genome Initiative the week of May 2 in Goiânia, Brazil. Held every four years, the conference provides the opportunity for researchers from around the world to both share and learn about the latest scientific developments in many aspects of cotton production.

The IDEA 2016 tradeshow, held May 3 – 5 in Boston, is the largest nonwovens event of the year drawing a record crowd of more than 7000 attendees and 550 exhibitors from all over the world. Many Cotton LEADS℠ partners exhibited or attended the show. Cotton Incorporated, a Cotton LEADS℠ supporting organization, featured the natural benefits of cotton compared to competitive fibers in nonwovens.

With the theme “Moving Toward Sustainability in the Supply Chain”, a Cotton LEADS℠ partner conference was held at Hotel ICON in Hong Kong on April 6. More than 125 international and local Cotton LEADS℠ partners and supporters across the global cotton supply chain attended the one-day special event, which focused on responsible cotton production, as esponsible textile manufacturing.

Cotton Australia annually collates data for key areas affecting cotton production in Australia: crop size, area, forecasts, yield, quality, price, water, biotechnology, environmental indicators and the world market. The latest Cotton Annual 2016 statistics booklet has been released and is now available online.

CottonInfo’s cotton nutrition tour hit the road last month, taking 10 leading CRDC-funded nutrition researchers out to five cotton growing valleys. The tour hosted field days at Gunnedah, Warren, Griffith, Emerald and Moree, taking the latest developments in nutrition researchers to more than 300 cotton growers and consultants.

Australia’s CottonInfo team has launched a new app designed to help cotton growers identify the common bird species found on cotton farms, and understand how to manage their habitats. An exciting feature of the app is a monitoring tool, which will help growers monitor the diversity and abundance of birds that can be found on their farms and in surrounding landscapes.