Reflections from Tony May, Head of Customer Marketing ANZ, for World Water Day.

There is an old adage – “with great power comes great responsibility”. 

While this is often applied to Government power, it could equally be applied to agriculture.

The agriculture industry accounts for nearly 70 per cent of global freshwater consumption, primarily used for irrigation.

This is a big number. We need to do things right.

As a leader in agriculture and health, Bayer knows how important water is for the future of humankind. The protection of natural resources is part of our commitment to sustainable development. 

On World Water Day 2022, #TeamBayer launched our support for #RunBlue – we’re working to address water-related challenges in Australia and around the world. 

Run Blue is a global campaign initiated by Mina Guli and the Thirst Foundation, aimed at putting water at the top of the global agenda. 

By running 200 marathons around the world’s water affected regions, Mina, together with Bayer and other partners, will bring the challenges surrounding water supply to the surface while advancing solutions. 

Finding a fix to these challenges isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and we can see this through the success story of the Australian cotton industry.

For the past 30 years, the Australian cotton industry has made continual improvements including reducing water use per bale by 2.5 per cent per year and significantly decreasing hazards of pesticides used to grow cotton, establishing a long-term record as a global leader.

Today, Australia’s cotton industry is one of the most water efficient in the world through biotechnology and advances in precision irrigation and timing. Despite being a relatively minor producer on a global scale, the industry is one of the largest exporters, producing enough cotton to clothe 500 million people.

Striving towards a better future, the Australian cotton industry has set a range of sustainability targets and Bayer is committed to working with industry to achieve these through a robust innovation pipeline of products and stewardship and support programs.

We see it as both an opportunity and our responsibility to partner with farmers and other industry stakeholders to provide the solutions needed to make farms both more water-efficient, and more productive.