cotton - Greenmount Press

CSIRO Researcher Profile: Greg Constable
Breeding excellent research
■ By Natalia Bateman
COMMITMENT is probably the best word to describe what
is needed to succeed in the business of breeding cotton
in Australia. The process of breeding cotton can be very
slow and not fully understood or recognised by those outside the
industry, but the personal and professional rewards can be great,
as CSIRO’s Dr Greg Constable knows.
Commitment to cotton scientific research has been the centre
of his life as a scientist for more than 40 years, displaying his
hunger for challenges and outstanding levels of dedication and
enthusiasm.
“The early years were challenging times as public and
government perceptions of the cotton industry were strongly
negative on water and pesticide issues. Since then CSIRO
has been developing commercial cotton varieties adapted to
Australian conditions with a strong focus on making the crop
sustainable,” he said.
Greg was born and raised in Glen Innes, NSW and attended
The University of Sydney from 1966 to 1969. Other than three
years at The Australian National University to complete a PhD,
he has lived in Narrabri since 1972. His time in Narrabri has been
dedicated to cotton research, particularly plant breeding, but also
plant physiology, crop agronomy and efficient farming systems.
He is recognised for his contribution to the development
of scientifically based approaches to agriculture, such as novel
breeding strategies for increased yield and water use.
“CSIRO research overall has facilitated a large increase in
cotton yield while halving environmental impact, which is a
pleasing result,” he says.
Greg feels passionately about improving the lives of the people
who live in the cotton areas and about promoting awareness and
adoption of new technologies to growers.
“It’s great working with farmers because you learn their
challenges and when a new variety improves their profitability,
the benefits to the farmer and the whole production chain is
pleasing to see,” he said.
It is largely thanks to the efforts of he and his team that
Australian cotton is recognised nationally and internationally
for its high quality and the industry is regarded as one of the
most successful in the country. They have made great strides in
the development of elite cotton varieties which dominate the
Australian industry and are now grown around the world.
“The collaborative approach of our CSIRO teams in Narrabri,
Canberra and Geelong, and the way in which the work is
undertaken with great care and commitment is the key to the
high impact of our research,” he says.
Greg was judged ‘Australia’s smartest scientist’ by the
influential Australian business magazine the Bulletin in 2003.
This recognition focused on the quality, originality, innovation
and community benefit of his research. In that year, an economic
evaluation of the breeding team’s research showed that for every
dollar invested in the group, $86 was returned to the Australian
cotton industry.
In 2008 he received the prestigious Outstanding Research
Award in Cotton Physiology, at the 2008 Physiology and
Agronomy Conference as part of the Beltwide Cotton
Greg Constable.
Conferences in the US. This was the first time the award had
been given to a researcher from outside the US.
The cotton breeding and biotechnology groups have also been
recognised in a number of other major awards including the
CSIRO Chairman’s Medal in 2003 and 2011 and the Clunies Ross
Award in 2006.
Greg continues to work at Narrabri. He stood down from
Stream and Group Leader roles in mid 2012 to concentrate on
some breeding priorities and to help guide the new CSIRO cotton
leadership team. He is also mentoring two CSIRO Post Doctoral
Fellows working in cultivar variation in water use efficiency (WUE)
and developing breeding procedures to achieve high yield and
high quality simultaneously. These pursuits will help to ensure
that his and his team’s effort will persist long into the future.
Lewis Wilson
and Greg
Constable,
CSIRO Plant
Industry
researchers in
Narrabri.
30 — The Australian Cottongrower December 2012–January 2013