This project continues to build on the work of previous project SC1301 during a critical time for the industry in promoting and improving stewardship of Bt and insecticides.

The overall aim of the project has been to increase grower awareness of stewardship not as a ‘must do’ but a ‘should do’ to protect the industry’s access to biotechnologies and insecticides in the future. Monsanto compliance data for Bollgard 3 shows that non-compliance cases are still heavily influenced by environmental factors outside of the control of the grower. There are very few cases of intentional non-compliance and the average annual number of RRMPs implemented have been reduced since the introduction of Bollgard 3. The industry has been growing Bt cotton for over 2 decades now. Despite this long history, resistance monitoring data from both CSIRO and Monsanto in 2016/17 show that resistance to Cry1Ac remains relatively rare for both H. punctigera and H. armigera. Resistance to Cry2Ab is higher in both species, but there is no evidence for a significant increase in resistance frequencies since 2007/08. This indicates that our current resistance management strategy is working, especially when the evidence that Australia is one of the few countries in the world that grow Bt crops where resistance has not increased is considered. ransgenic cotton was introduced to Australia in 1996 with Ingard® which was replaced by Bollgard II® in 2004/05. Transgenic cotton is now grown by over 95% of Australian cotton growers so is an integral part of the Australian cotton industry, helping enable the industry to dramatically reduce insecticide use. In 2015/16 the industry introduced 3rd generation Bt cotton (Bollgard 3). This has been a critical time for stewardship of Bt cotton during the transition phase to Bollgard 3, to ensure the industry is aware of the importance of continued stewardship in the future.

Historically, the cotton industry has been able to work closely with the commercial companies involved and regulatory bodies in developing Bt resistance management plans and monitoring the performance of the technology primarily through the TIMS committee and research organisations. However, the stewardship of the technologies at a grower level has been largely the responsibility of the commercial companies. An industry need was identified for the delivery and promotion of independent industry research focussed on resistance to Bt cotton and the effectiveness of commercial stewardship programs to ensure the protection of the technology for future industry use. The current project SC1601 has been filling the industry gap identified by promoting independent industry research in the areas of stewardship. The project has also provided for an independent facilitator to act between grower and research representative bodies (CRDC, TIMS Committee and Tech Panels) and relevant commercial companies in amending and developing resistance management plans for both biotechnologies and insecticides.