Stories: On the Farm
Dr. Katie Broughton - Narrabri, NSW, Australia

Preparing cotton for climate change

Dr-Katie-Broughton“My research is a first for the cotton industry globally – using in-crop chambers to modify atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and temperature to study the effects of elevated CO2 and warmer temperatures on cotton.

Last year, elevated CO2 increased total vegetative biomass by 57 percent, but there were no effects on fruit number or fruit biomass – so, it’ll be interesting to see what happens this season.

Once we determine the effects we’ll look at management strategies, so we can be ahead of the curve in how we manage crops in a changing climate.”

 

- Dr Katie Broughton, postdoctoral fellow in crop physiology, CSIRO


Get to know other growers and researchers