The disruptive nature of many of the broad spectrum insecticides on which heliothis control relies on cotton limits the adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) programs, particularly where they place emphasis on natural enemies found in the cotton crop. From this perspective, there is a need for selective products that will satisfactorily reduce heliothis numbers yet conserve beneficial insects (parasites and predators). Nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV)is one microbial agent that may adequately fill this role. This paper presents trial data on NPV from Helicoverpa zea (Gemstar@) used against heliothis on cotton in southeast Queensland during the 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons.

Each year, Crop Consultants Australia - with support from CRDC - conduct a qualitative survey of cotton consultants regarding their practices and attitudes, as well as those of their cotton grower clients. The resulting report provides valuable information to the Australian cotton industry regarding on-farm practices , helping to benchmark the industry's performance in a range of key areas over time. This report, published in March 2019, looks at the 2017-18 cotton growing season.

The Australian cotton industry has a long history of independent environmental assessments, demonstrating its commitment to monitoring and improving the industry’s environmental performance. The initial assessment, conducted in 1991, saw the cotton industry become the first major agricultural industry undertake such a task, and in 2003, the Second Environment Audit was conducted to continue documenting performance and practice change.

The Australian cotton industry has a long history of independent environmental assessments, demonstrating its commitment to monitoring and improving the industry’s environmental performance. The initial assessment, conducted in 1991, saw the cotton industry become the first major agricultural industry undertake such a task. This First Environmental Audit has been followed by additional audits and assessments in 2003 and 2012.

The annual FUSCOM panel forum provides an opportunity to share updates on all pathology research projects, providing peer support and project review to researchers. This event also helps to provide direction on RD&E priorities and identify opportunity for collaboration between projects. Supporting ongoing industry disease collaboration continues to be identified as a priority.

This project evaluated and demonstrated nitrogen fertiliser and irrigation management strategies, including variable rate fertiliser applications, rotational cropping with legumes and matching fertiliser rates to crop demands to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from commercial irrigated cotton systems in three climatic zones – Central Queensland (Emerald), the Gwydir Valley (Moree) and the Liverpool Plains (Gunnedah) in Northwest NSW.

Advanced breeding selections initially selected at Biloela outyielded CSIRO selections initially selected at Narrabri. In contrast, the Biloela selections were low yielders when tested in New South Wales (NSW). The highest yielding lines on the Darling Downs were those selections which were initially selected on the Downs.

The cotton industry in southern NSW has expanded from negligible areas less than a decade ago to 70,680 ha harvested in 2014, 44,201 ha in 2016, and predictions of 90,000 ha in the 2017/18 season, with plantings into Victoria. Three gins have opened in the south; one each at Whitton (2012), Carathool (2014) and Hay (2015). Since cotton production first moved to the south, growers have reported having to control thrips during establishment, and mirids and green vegetable bug (GVB) mid season.

We know that early sprays against thrips can disrupt the natural enemy complex, potentially leading to outbreaks of secondary pests such as spider mites, aphids and whiteflies and that thrips themselves are predatory on mites (Wilson et al. 1996, 1998; Milne and Walter 1998). The risk to reducing natural enemies is further increased if follow-up sprays are made targeting mirids or GVB.

Previous research has shown that cotton has high potential to recover from thrips damage (Wilson et al. 2003, 2009). However this is influenced by thrips density and duration of populations, with recovery poorer from high density populations that persist longer. Sufficient crop compensation is also less likely in shorter season regions, however, data was lacking for the southern regions, and growers and agronomists were unsure whether the Industry thrips thresholds based on data from the northern regions would hold in the south. Similarly, thresholds for mirids were based on data from the Darling Downs region and thresholds for shorter season cotton areas were half those of full season areas (Khan et al. 2004, 2006), but again data was lacking for southern regions.

Another concern for the southern cotton area was the relatively higher incidence of western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis on a range of horticultural crops and the potential for it to be a larger component of the thrips species complex on cotton. WFT was first identified in Australia in 1993 (Malipatil et al 1993) and spread across Australia over the next decade. Given high levels of insecticide resistance for WFT (Herron and James 2005, Thalavaisundaram et al., 2008, Herron et al., 2010, Marshall and Herron 2016), there was concern that it could be a far more significant problem in the south than was experienced in the northern cotton production areas.

The significant expansion and investment in cotton in southern NSW (Hillston, Condobolin, Griffith, Coleambally and Berrigan) led to the commissioned project Moving in and out of cotton – Identifying farming systems issues in southern NSW irrigation areas (Sykes et al. 2013) and a subsequent extension think-tank held in Griffith in April 2013 identifying the need for southern research capacity and focusing on early crop establishment as priority issues. The rationale being that the shorter growing season allows for less leeway in crop establishment and harvest, and for higher crop establishment costs. Thrips is a key pest at crop establishment. Analysis of the crops that entered the Cotton Grower’s Association crop competition in 2013 highlighted that growers were applying at least 2 and up to 6 insecticides, largely to control sucking pests such as thrips, mirids, GVB and mites (O’Keeffe pers com).

The distances from the Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI) and other northern research centres preclude regular visits or high input research experiments, hence the need to develop some local cotton research capacity. NSW DPI has a major research station based at Yanco with researchers and research development officers with experience working in a range of irrigated cropping systems and available to work in cotton.

This project assisted members of the Dawson Valley Cotton Growers to attend AgTECH CH17 on Wednesday 8th November 2017, stay over in Emerald for the evening to then participate in the CHCGI organised field day the following day. The aim of AgTECH was to gain exposure to the future of technology in farming and irrigation. The field day that was held on the following day allowed growers to visit on farm and see irrigation solutions that have been implemented on farm. Growers reluctance to adopt new technologies could be overcome by visiting early adopters and listening to their first hand practical experience of irrigation innovations.

FUSCOM provides a great opportunity for researchers, interested consultants and growers to keep up to date on the progress of current plant disease related projects in the Australian cotton industry. It also provides the chance to co-ordinate the efforts of researchers, extension officers and industry personnel to achieve the same goal of successful crop protection.