In 2012–13 NSW DPI undertook a nine month bench-marking project in both the western and southern NSW irrigation production region commissioned by the CRDC.

The aims of this project were for key NSW DPI agronomists to further develop technical skills in cotton growth and development and provide linkages to industry partners in the new production areas of NSW. CRDC required NSW DPI to add value to existing projects, build grower participation in both regions, provide economic insights and develop agronomic

management information for cotton industry extension services.

This project facilitated linkages to other projects focused on water use efficiency benchmarking (NSW DPI), cotton comparative analysis (Boyce Chartered Accountants) and growing day degree modelling (CSIRO).

NSW DPI facilitated data collection on six farm sites. Activities focused on collecting temperature and plant growth data to help validate day degree modelling for western NSW, collecting WUE data, agronomic management of crops, facilitating field days and meetings with growers and coordinating the development of future research, development and extension issues.

Four major RDE issues were prioritised by industry in March 2013. These were:

· nutrition (N, P and K) – when to apply, key growth stages, how to apply, quantities

· irrigation scheduling – the effect of pushing out irrigation at key growth stages

· back to back cotton – impact on yield

· genetics of heat tolerance.