This research project acts as a pilot study and involved four trials in the Riverina region of New South Wales comparing establishment, growth rates, plant maturity and yield between cotton crops grown under plastic and conventionally grown cotton. It is hypothesized that crops grown under plastic will have better establishment, increased growth rates and earlier maturity with no loss of yield.

Sporadic significance was found when comparing establishment and yield, with establishment typically lower (6.2%) when grown under plastic and the most significant increase in yield found at one farm equating to a 2.8 bale/ha increase. Overall trends suggest there could be some benefit in using plastic film on cotton crops in this region in terms of growth rate and maturity. Both node production and reduction in nodes above white flower occurred earlier and faster in all crops grown under plastic.