The myBMP Story
The Cotton Best Management Practices (BMP) program was initially a grower-driven environmental management program that transformed the way cotton was grown in Australia. Over the past 15 years, the cotton industry has proactively managed its actions and risks through the implementation of BMP.Widespread adoption of Cotton BMP has helped to deliver a sustainable cotton industry which is regarded as maintaining the world’s best practices and is seen as a model for change by other sectors of Australian agriculture.
The Beginnings
In the early 1990s, the Australian cotton industry came under fire for its environmental performance, particularly in relation to pesticide use. A coordinated response by the Australian cotton industry did more than address the immediate concerns - it transformed an entire agricultural industry.
The first step was to initiate the first ever environmental audit of a whole industry in the southern hemisphere. A major finding was that the Australian cotton industry needed to improve its storage and application of chemicals and to improve grower education on these issues. The Cotton Research and Development Corporation and Land & Water Australia, together with the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, subsequently undertook an intensive examination of the impact of pesticides on rivers in cotton growing areas.
Initial Program Design
This three year, $6 million research project provided the scientific basis for the initial Cotton Best Management Practices (BMP) program. BMP covered all major aspects of integrated pest management, on-farm chemical application management, the storage and handling of pesticides and petrochemicals, as well as farm design and land and water management. Best practices, risk assessments and action plans for improvements were included in a paper-based manual which was delivered to growers with assistance from Cotton Australia regional staff, extension staff and cotton consultants. Growers worked through each “module” of BMP, identified areas of risk and improvement and then implemented action plans.
Industry Gets Behind BMP
By 1999, 97% of all cotton growers had been introduced to the BMP program at 300 workshops run by the Cotton Australia BMP Team, attended by 3,000 industry people.
At around this time, an industry survey showed that 64% of cotton growers had made changes to their farming practices as a result of BMP and that 96% saw BMP as essential to cotton’s long term viability.
Following its initial introduction, substantial resources were invested in group and one-on-one training to see the program implemented on farm by growers. By 2006, the industry had embraced the BMP program to the extent that about 60 percent of Australian cotton was being grown on BMP-accredited farms.
Environmental Inroads
BMP, in conjunction with the introduction of biotechnology, led to an 85 percent reduction in the use of pesticides on cotton farms and massive reductions in residues found in river systems in cotton growing regions to neglible. Water use efficiency has been improved by at least 25% in the last Decade, and BMP also had a direct impact on grower operations by helping to improve water use efficiency, soil health and overall profitability.
A New Era for BMP
While the BMP system managed to completely transform the farming practices of the entire cotton industry, there was a growing recognition of the need to update and expand the scope of the existing BMP Manual content, and also to find a means to improve the delivery and execution of the program. From 2008-10, the Australian cotton industry has been engaged in a process to completely reinvent BMP - myBMP is the result.