Breeding high-tech cotton

An exploration of how biotechnology has transformed an industry.

Cotton gin under a full moon (2012) by Jamie CondonCotton Australia

Australian cotton

Australia has a vibrant, high-tech cotton industry that clothes 500 million people each year. Yields are three times the global average and Australian cotton fibre is among the best quality in the world. But it wasn’t always this way…

Heliothis caterpillar on a cotton boll (2010) by UnknownCotton Australia

Helicoverpa Armigera, also known as Heliothis or cotton bollworm, is a voracious cotton pest that can cause widespread damage if not kept under control.

Heliothis feed on leaves, flowers and developing cotton bolls.

Damage to a developing cotton boll caused by the Heliothis caterpillar (2006)Cotton Australia

In the past, Australian cotton growers used insecticide sprays to control the pest, but yield losses were still substantial and chemical inputs high.

Spraying insecticide on a cotton crop (2018-05-16) by Cotton AustraliaCotton Australia

By the 1980s, cotton had become a major export earner for Australia, but its heavy dependence on chemicals saw its sustainability increasingly called into question.

DNA is the code for a plant's characteristics (2006) by CSIROCotton Australia

Genetic modification (GM) technologies that were emerging in the late 1980s offered scientists a way to make the cotton plant itself produce a protein that was toxic to the heliothis, rather than having to rely on insecticides.

Classical vs gene technology plant breeding (2015-01-01) by CSIROCotton Australia

Classical plant breeding to select and enhance desirable characteristics has been going on for hundreds of years.

Biotechnology offered a more precise way to select desired traits. It allowed the breeder to select and insert the gene only for a specific trait.

Non-GM vs GM cotton leaf in the laboratory (2006) by CSIROCotton Australia

At the CSIRO, scientists Dr Greg Constable, Dr Danny Llewellyn and Dr Gary Fitt and their teams pioneered the introduction of an insecticidal gene – named Ingard® – into Australian cotton in the early 1990s.

Ingard® varieties express the Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) protein to protect themselves against insect attack.

Bt is a naturally occurring, soil-dwelling bacterium commonly used as a biological pesticide.

GM and non-GM cotton (2006) by CSIROCotton Australia

Together with their third-party providers, Drs Constable, Llewellyn and Fitt and their teams’ skills across plant breeding, molecular biology, entomology and ecology allowed them to rapidly establish a world-class GM cotton breeding program.

In record time, over four years, they and their seed company partners developed the first commercial cultivars of GM insect-tolerant cotton.

Open cotton boll (2014) by Cotton AustraliaCotton Australia

When Ingard® cotton was released in 1996, it was rapidly adopted by the Australian industry.

Growers immediately recognised the benefits of a high-quality cotton variety that required far fewer insecticide applications.

Afternoon light on a cotton field by Justin QuigleyCotton Australia

After six years Ingard® was replaced by a superior two-gene product (Bollgard® II) with in-built resistance management properties.

Pesticide usage in Bollgard® II cotton was reduced by 80% each year – better for the farmer and for the natural environment.

Australia's regulatory system for gene technology (2000-06-30) by Office of the Gene Technology RegulatorCotton Australia

The use of GM crops in Australia is heavily regulated by government under a national scheme called the 'Gene Technology Regulations' to ensure the technology is well managed for potential issues such as resistance.

Field trails of Bollgard III cotton (2016) by Geoff HewittCotton Australia

On average, each new cotton biotechnology variety takes 13 years and $130 million of research, development, field trials and regulatory approval before coming to market.

Safety assessments are also conducted by 20 to 40 independent health and environmental agencies worldwide.

Protecting cotton's biotechnology traits (2010-05-21) by CSIROCotton Australia

For GM cotton to succeed in the long term, it has been necessary to implement measures to prevent pests of cotton from developing resistance to the Bt toxin.

The cotton industry’s Resistance Management Plan includes five measures farmers must take, such as the planting of refuge crops, and now forms part of the licensing conditions for growers using these technologies.

Waterbirds on a cotton farm (2014) by Brooke SummersCotton Australia

Trends with industry pesticide use indicate growers are becoming more familiar and confident in the management of their crops.

Yields continue to rise, so the overall farming system is becoming more efficient as well as more environmentally friendly.

Resistance Management Plans are understood and adopted by cotton growers, and the time they save managing crop pests has allowed them to invest in other on-farm improvements, leading to the lean and responsive industry we have today.

Butcher bird perched on a cotton plant (2012) by Julie ReardonCotton Australia

Today 99.9% of Australia’s cotton crop is grown with varieties containing biotech traits and our scientists are continuing to develop new varieties uniquely adapted to Australian conditions.

Credits: Story

Warwick Stiller, CSIRO
Office of the Gene Technology Regulator

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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