Insects in cotton fields form a diverse and volatile community. Room (1979) collected some 500 species of insect (plus spiders) in Australian cotton fields. Some (the ones we notice most) are pests.

In common with about 80% of all plants, cotton forms VAM (vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas). VAM are associations of soil-borne fungi with the roots of plants.

In 1992 we started work on an alternative way of detecting pesticide residues, based on the application of medical immunodiagnostic tests.

Having previously identified poor N recovery as largely a denitrification problem, research began to investigate means of reducing N loss.

Attendees at the 1992 Australian Cotton Conference sat in silence as two speakers promoted completely opposite approaches to insect pest management in raingrown cotton.