The results of annual disease surveys in both NSW and Queensland continue to provide useful data on the distribution, incidence and importance of diseases of cotton in Australia.

Plant parasitic nematodes are serious pathogens of cotton worldwide and have potential to increase the severity of vascular wilts.

Commercial cotton crops throughout NSW have been surveyed in November and March of each season since 1983 to determine disease distribution, incidence and severity.

A disease can only occur when a virulent pathogen contacts a susceptible host under favourable environmental conditions. The incidence and severity of a disease reflects the occurence of these three factors.

ABSTRACT: When searching for an ideal mass screening technique for cotton plant antibiotic resistance to Helicoverpa spp., a 48 hour feeding on squares using final instar larvae bioassay was found to be the most suita