Farmers in Wee Waa and Narrabri districts will be the first in the world to trial the next generation of genetically modified cotton.
The new Bollgard 3 variety contains an extra gene which acts as a toxin, repelling damaging insects without the need for aerial chemical sprays.
It’s a pre-emptive strike against insect pests which have the potential to become resistant to toxins already built-in to the existing Bollgard 2 variety.
The build up of resistance in insects would leave the nation’s cotton crops vulnerable to millions of dollars worth of crop damage and have catastrophic consequences for the cotton industry in general.
This is why, for the last 10 years, researchers from the CSIRO and global research company Monsanto have been developing the new Bollgard 3 cotton variety to replace Bollgard 2.
Those organisations are working with Cotton Seed Distributors at a local level to grow the variety and put it to the test.
Dr. Warwick Stiller from the CSIRO has been working on Bollgard 3 since 2009 and believes it will be a success.
“We’re very happy with the initial performance, results are comparable to existing varieties,” he said.
“Historically we have always seen a lag in performance when transitioning to a new variety but our expectation with this material is that won’t be the case.
“Yield, fibre quality and disease resistance have really been the main objectives.”
While local farmers will have the opportunity to grow Bollgard 3 under trial conditions in the 2015/16 cotton season, commercial release isn’t expected until the 2016/17 season.
Walgett farmer Toby Moore didn’t have enough water this year to plant a cotton crop on his property “Walma” but he’s still reassured by the work of researchers to develop Bollgard 3.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction to increase the longevity of the technology, and they’re saying it will be easier to manage in terms of planting windows which is good,” he said.
“Insect resistance has the potential to ruin the whole industry, countries that don’t have resistance management plans in place have had resistances build up quite dramatically so I think this work ensures the longevity of the cotton industry in Australia.”
The traditional ballot style selection of growers to trial the new variety has been disallowed by the Australian Taxation Office, and CSD is currently trying to develop a new mechanism whereby growers can access the new variety.
Trials and handling of the new seed is still heavily regulated as the Australia Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Association has not yet approved the technology.
Monsanto, which owns the rights to the new Bollgard 3, hopes to receive approval later this year.