The Measuring Sustainability in Cotton Farming Systems: Towards a Guidance Framework provides an overview of critical sustainability issues for cotton growing and recommends a set of indicators to assess and measure progress against these.

The report was published by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) Expert Panel on Social, Environmental and Economic Performance of Cotton Production and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in April 2015. CRDC R&D Manager Allan Williams is the Chair of the ICAC panel and co-author of this report.

The indicators in the report cover environmental (pest and pesticide management; water management; soil management; land use and biodiversity; and climate change), economic (economic viability, poverty reduction and food security; economic risk management) and social (labour rights and standards; occupational health and safety; equity and gender; and farmer organisations) issues that affect cotton growing countries the world over.

The report references sustainability programs run by cotton growing countries around the world, including Australia's own myBMP program, and the Better Cotton Initiative, of which Australia is a member.

In the Murrumbidgee, with the rapid uptake of cotton production there has been a trend to continuous production systems, with some farmers doing as many as 5 consecutive cotton crops. With the intensity of production and a move to bigger machinery, particularly 40t pickers that are commonly used when the ground is damp, there is an increase in the amount of compaction. This is resulting in changes in the crop physiology as well as a tightening of irrigation intervals due to a decrease in the water holding capacity of soil and shallowing rooting depth that the plants are able to achieve.

This project aimed to demonstrate the differences between standard and controlled traffic practices (3m centres) and water infiltration rate and irrigation practices on farms in the Murrumbidgee catchment. As there are currently have no farms moving to controlled traffic, it will be about demonstrating to the grower soil properties that are present in the continuous cropping system we currently have, as well as bringing someone with the experience of switching to controlled traffic to showcase the benefits seen on that farm. The first season of BG III will also mean reduced tillage from pupae busting enabling monitoring of expected increased infiltration from business-as-usual scenarios under BGII.

The researcher was able to get some good data from a number of different sites that have had different management. This coupled with infield probes has resulted is some solid information as the compaction that is happening in our region and the effects that they are having on water infiltration.The engagment of Dr Michael Braunack from the CSIRO as part of the local field day to discuss what was happening to local soil, and look at the option of controlled traffic. The information that gathered has resulted in a good base for further work in the local region.

The spring edition of CRDC's magazine, Spotlight, has a focus on sustainability, in line with the industry's current focus on setting new sustainability targets. Some of the issues tackled in this edition include off-target spray drift, nitrogen efficiency, soil health and pesticide use.

The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation was established in 1992 based on the premise that developing leaders in rural, regional and remote Australia could influence change across organisations, industries as a whole, and rural communities in general.

The ARLF exists to develop leaders for rural, regional and remote Australia. We support the development of leaders for the greater good – no matter where they live or work. The Foundation takes an ethical approach, challenges assumptions and seeks to respectfully influence change for the greater good.

Our flagship program is the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP). This program has been running since our inception and we will commence Course 23 in 2016. We currently have over 650 ARLP graduates from throughout Australia. Other educational programs are shorter in length and are either targeted to a specific leadership level or client-focused (organized by a client for their sector). All graduates become life-long members of the Foundation’s network which now numbers over 1,000 leaders.

As part of our existing effort we regularly assess and evaluate all our programs. However given the Foundation’s educational philosophy that emphasises people-development through values-based leadership learning, the impacts are difficult to quantify in a simplified manner. So while our existing evaluation measures can provide insight into the impact of our programs on individuals and from an ARLF viewpoint, they do not provide an expression of impact that is easy to communicate to third party investors and other interested parties.

The broad objective of the longitudinal evaluation is to identify the influence of the ARLP and other Foundation programs upon the leadership of program graduates and, consequently, the impact of their leadership within regional, remote and rural Australia (and beyond) over time. The ARLF has a unique position relative to other leadership development courses with its focus

on RRR Australia. The ARLF has over 25 years developed a flagship program, the ARLP that is

premised upon two approaches to leadership development – that it is experientially based and

is premised upon reflective practice. Eight core principles develop from this philosophy, each

associated with a set of leadership dispositions or capabilities. The aim of each of the ARLF

programs seeks to develop/enhance in individuals these dispositions and capabilities.

This project part funded the purchase of a new HVI to be used for testing fibre samples from CSIRO’s cotton breeding program as well as most research projects at ACRI and other locations such as Canberra and Kununurra. As such the project provided part funding of enabling equipment to ensure up to date techniques are used for critical measurements of fibre quality in research. The new Uster HVI was part of CSIRO Plant Industry’s fibre testing laboratory which also contained a Shirley Fineness Maturity Tester and air conditioning required for such laboratories.

The new instrument was commissioned for the 2005 harvest and has completed three harvests to this time, with an average of 25,000 samples tested each season.

The instrument has ensured modern testing and fibre quality data has been successfully applied to research in a number of subject areas from breeding to agronomy and pest management.

Stable transformation is an essential tool for molecular biologists workingon non-model organsims. The ability to introduce and express genes of choice in an organism provides means to investigate important molecular questions such as gene function, biochemcial pathway analysis, reporter gene studies and developmental process. my PhD studies have focussed on the transformation of the pest Helcoverpa armigera with the reporter gene EGFP(enhanced green fluorescent protein). There are essentially two parts to the transformation: 1) DNA delivery and 2)targetr gene integration. Biolistics is a technique for DNA delivery that involves coating microscopic gold particles with the DNA of choice and accelerating them at high velocity into the cells. Biolistics has been widely used to transform many kinds of plant tissue, and has had mixed success transforming Drosophilia embryos. Extensive attempts to adapt biolistics to transform H.armigera embryos proved fruitless, with too many technical hurdles to overcome. these difficulties led me to use microinjection delivery of DNA to embryos. Compared to biolistics, microinjection is a lower-throughput technique delivering DNA to individual embryos, however this method is well established, with none of the hurdles raised by biolistics. Results for the microinjection were encouraging, with a high frequency of transient EGFP expression and the generation of two putative EGFP stably transformed H.armigera lines. Following DNA delivery, integration of target genes into insect genomes is commonly mediated by transposon-based gene movement. i used the class II transposan piggyBac to facilitate the movement of the ECFP reporter gene into the genomes of H.armigera embryos aas a visual proof of integration.

This project has part funded field operation costs charged by NSW DPI to CSIRO for experiments on ACRI at Narrabri in 2006/07. More than 10 projects have been supported and all field operations have been done well through collaboration within CSIRO and between CSIRO and NSW DPI.

Detailed aspects of each specific project will be reported in their annual and final reports.

CSIRO field research has addressed all important areas for yield and sustainability: breeding, disease resistance, soil and water management and insect management. Results of that research have substantially improved industry performance and value.

This PhD project aims to determine the mechanisms, by which soil sodicity impacts on the uptake of nutrients and growth of cotton crops, in order that soil sodium levels can be factored into crop nutritional management decisions.

The mechanisms, by which sodium impacts on cotton nutrition include;

• Influencing the ability of plant to access nutrients by affecting soil structure and hence PAWC, waterlogging and root growth.

• Altering the availability of nutrients to plants through soil pH, exchange equilibrium and oxidation-reduction potential changes

• Interacting directly with nutrients at the membrane surfaces throughout the plant.

An understanding of these factors has important practical implications for crop nutritional management and may lead to the development of appropriate tools for the diagnosis of sodicity-induced nutritional imbalances.

The nature of the impact of sodicity on the growth and nutrition of cotton in the field was determined through a program of plant measurements and tissue analysis in a cotton crop grown on a field with varying levels of sodicity in different parts of the field. The results showed that as the level of sodium in the soil increased, there was a corresponding increase in the uptake of sodium and decrease in the uptake pf phosphorus ad potassium by the crop. These results are illustrated in the attached graph (Dodd_SodicityGraph).

The quantitative relationship between the level of sodium in the soil and the growth and nutrition of the cotton plant is currently being determined in a glasshouse experiment, in order that the variability present in a field situation can be removed. Sodic soils were artificially created by leaching large volumes of solutions with different cation concentrations through given volumes of soil. In this way, the ESP of the soil could be manipulated while keeping other factors, such as soil electrical conductivity, mineralogy and nutrient levels constant. Analysis was carried out in order to determine that the synthetic soil conditioning agent polyacrylamide has no impact on the availability of nutrients to the plant in the soil solution. The effects of the physical and chemical properties of sodic soil were then separated in the glasshouse experiment using polyacrylamide treatments. The progress of this experiment is illustrated in the attached photograph (Dodd_GlasshousePhotograph).

It is hypothesized that the relationship between the level of sodium in the soil and the performance of the cotton plant is affected by a number of factors, especially the presence of salinity and high levels of magnesium in the soil profile. Following the completion of the above glasshouse experiment, it is envisaged that any chemical effect of sodicity on the performance of the cotton plant and its interaction with salinity and magnesium will be further investigated through solution culture experiments. This data will then be related to soil test data through soil solution analysis. Additionally, the physical effect of sodicity on the performance of cotton and its interaction with salinity and magnesium will be further investigated by quantifying how these factors influence soil physical structure.

The focus of the project has been to provide support for growers and consultants of broadacre crops, as they attempt to implement IPM. The major pest species that attack cotton, are for the most part, not specific to cotton. Therefore, cotton‐growers and their advisers are managing these pests across their farms, not just in cotton.

Similarly, populations of natural enemies which are a vital component of IPM, breed, take refuge and feed across the landscape. With most cotton‐growers also being grain‐growers, they need ready access to information that encompasses the range of crops they grow. The aim of this project has been to facilitate the implementation of IPM throughout the farming system, raising awareness of the benefits, challenges and implications of different tactics. A farming systems approach was made possible through the joint funding of the project by CRDC and GRDC.

Achieving outcomes in a farming‐systems context has been possible through having a multifaceted project bringing together research, development and extension simultaneously. Working with groups of growers and advisers, maintaining regular two‐way communication with growers, consultants, agribusinesses and extension colleagues have been critical to facilitating the awareness of pest management strategies. Building on this awareness, the project has undertaken targetted research, and extension activities to provide detailed technical information that can be used in making management decisions. Critically, the project provided further support to growers and consultants attempting to implement IPM by ensuring access to researchers at industry meetings, field days and in person, to discuss the issues and respond to specific enquiries.

Collaboration with colleagues in research and extension, has been essential to achieving outcomes for industry in a range of area (an IRMS that accommodates both cotton and grains, SLW and other pest outbreaks). The industry networks and extension activities of this project have ensured the dissemination of research outcomes to industry as they have emerged, facilitating their uptake by industry. In addition, the project has facilitated discussion amongst researchers and industry via the annual IPM Forum, strengthening relationships and sharing research findings.

Farmscaping

Whilst many components of pest and natural enemy management on farms have

been explored, it is difficult to determine whether the implementation of these on individual farms will result in significant direct benefits. It seems likely that in highly cultivated regions, a landscape approach will be necessary to achieve quantifiable benefits. However, the extent of knowledge in Australia of the ecology (particularly hosts, movement) of even our major pest and natural enemy species is currently insufficient to design farmscapes or landscapes that may deliver benefits.

The CRDC project funds for “Operational Costs for Cotton Experiments” is used to fund cotton experimental trials at the Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI). The management of cotton growing for experimental trial cotton is dependent on the aims of the specific trial. However cotton growing at ACRI is undertaken to industry standards with the intention of maintaining the long-term productive capacity of the land. ACRI has BMP certification through Cotton Australia. Last season 55Ha of cotton was grown at ACRI on behalf of NSW Department of Primary Industries researchers. Growing cotton in trials is intended to meet the needs for cotton experimentation in agronomy, entomology, farming systems and pathology.