The winter edition of CRDC's magazine, Spotlight, acknowledges the role of women in the industry with the celebration of International Day for Women and Girls in Science and International Women’s Day with some words of encouragement and advice from just some of our many female scientists and industry leaders. This is timely, given the announcement that Senator the Hon. Bridget McKenzie has been appointed to the Agriculture portfolio – becoming Australia’s first female Agriculture Minister.
In this edition, we also look at the results of a recent sleep study that confirms cotton sleepwear and bedding creates a better environment for a good night’s sleep. While cotton has always had a reputation as the premier fibre for bedding, to have quantified this scientifically gives cotton a powerful marketing tool to take to brands and consumers.
Additionally, in the lead-up to the industry’s biosecurity preparedness simulation Exercise Blueprint, this edition includes an update on Dr Murray Sharman’s investigations into cotton blue disease, and a collaboration with GRDC and the grains industry to manage an old foe of the cotton industry, Helicoverpa.
It also includes articles on the outcomes of CRDC's Grassroots Grants investment funding, including record breaking crowds at field days to introduce growers to ag technology, farmers from the Northern Territory travelling south to investigate cotton growing, and more than 10 weather stations erected across the growing regions. The grants have also led to practice change in the way the industry manages insects such as mealybug and whitefly.
