Travel to the USA to attend the Fusarium 2005 workshop at Kansas State University, and to accompany representatives of the Australian cotton industry on a cotton disease study tour of the USA. The purpose of attending the training course was to improve my technical skills as a plant pathologist, with the specific aim of learning new techniques that will enable me to maintain, identify and differentiate species of Fusarium. The study tour aimed to view several diseases of cotton that are not yet present in Australia. First hand experience of these diseases will enhance our ability to detect and manage any future incursions. Both the course and study tour provided opportunities to meet other plant pathologists who work not only on cotton, but on a range of other crops and diseases.

The Australian Cotton Water Story brings together research and development outcomes around water use in Australian cotton over the decade from 2002 to 2012. The Australian cotton industry has seen a dramatic improvement in all facets of its water management over this decade, and with water being the limiting factor of production for the industry, growing ‘more crop per drop’ has been an important goal for cotton water research. This publication brings together a snapshot of the breadth of cotton water related discipline research and development done on cotton plants, fields, farms, catchments and communities – with a focus on measuring the industry’s water use productivity and delivering outcomes of research to the end users, cotton growers, to put into practice.

The following Report covers my participation in a series of meetings at

Bremen, Germany, in late March 2006 - including;

20.3.06; CSITC *small technical group' meeting

21.3.06; International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)

'working group' meetings on - Cotton Fibre Maturity, Stickiness, Neps

and Trash, Fibre Length, and HVl.

22.3.06; ITMF Cotton Technical Steering Committee (am).

CSITC Full Meeting (pm).

23.3.06; ITMF Cotton Conference - included a forum on

'International Harmonisation of Instrument Testing' - self on panel.

24.3.06; ITMF Cotton Conference - included reports from earlier

specialist technical sessions' and on measurement technology.

The project provided travel funding to assist enable six Australian scientists who have undertaken extensive research on pesticides on behalf of the cotton industry to participate in the Pacifichem 2005 Symposium 225, Rational Methods for the Selection and Use of Agrochemicals: Risk Modelling, Monitoring and Management.

The 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference was held in Christchurch NZ, April 18-21. This

is the primary conference relating to plant breeding activities in Australia and New Zealand and

had six core themes: benefits from plant improvement, added value products, population

improvement, plant gene technologies, genetic resources and environmental challenges. I

presented a paper outlining the impact of transgenic cotton on the Australian cotton industry and

the lessons learnt for plant breeders (copy attached).

Of major importance to my research in this area is to remain up-to-date in all areas relating to

plant improvement and specifically in the areas of plant gene technologies and population

improvement. Other specific topics of interest discussed were: economic assessment of plant

breeding benefits; market focus; and influence of market size and recruitment and retention of

plant breeders.

Immediately following the conference was a three day Plant Breeding Master Class run by Prof

Duane Falk from the University of Guelph, Canada and Prof Wallace Cowling from the

University of Western Australia. The objective of the Master Class was to challenge participants’

understanding of the value of application of quantitative genetic principles to plant improvement,

and to discuss the role of current, breeder-driven technologies to achieve improved outcomes.

The idea was to challenge the way things are currently done, with the aim to have participants

step back and re-evaluate their procedures and efficiency.

Conclusions and benefits

Overall, the Plant Breeding Conference was well organised and well run. There was a good mix

of presentations detailing a range of crops and techniques, however, as with many conferences in

recent years, molecular presentations dominated more than they should. The conference provided

an opportunity for interaction with a very diverse group of breeders. It was particularly

interesting and beneficial to compare notes with the NZ breeders regarding the organisational and

funding structure of breeding in NZ. The quasi-commercial model using state owned entities

really seems to work for their situation. I also gained some valuable insights from the case

studies on fruit breeding that were presented and I think some aspects could be more broadly

applied in Australia. Some of the statistical analyses examining the success of various breeding

programs were interesting and as a benchmark the CSIRO breeding program appears to be doing

very well. Several of these programs also specified very ambitious targets, similar to what we

have proposed for our program in doubling the rate of yield increase.

Participation in the three day Plant Breeding Master Class was an excellent experience. It reintroduced

some of the basic plant breeding concepts and simplified what breeders are trying to

achieve. It also introduced some advanced concepts and techniques in population plant breeding,

with practical examples of how they can be applied. It did allow me to step back and assess the

way that we currently do things. My observation is that the techniques and procedures that we

are currently using compare very well to the best examples that were presented. However, there

are some areas where I will be evaluating some new procedures and these are detailed below in

the presentation of my case study.

The world of natural resource management is extremely dynamic, and is underpinned by the knowledge of farmers, resource managers and local communities, as well as that of scientists and research organisations. The most practical, innovative ideas are grounded in intimate knowledge, understanding and experience. The multiple aims of maintaining a profitable agricultural business while managing and protecting the resource base can be combined. As the price of water and energy goes up, farming systems that close the loop will become more and more competitive, domestically and globally. Win-wins do happen, BUT we should never be under any delusion that they are inevitable, commonplace or even always possible.

Compression athletic wear is usually made from synthetic fibres, often by coating an elastomer band on the fabric surface. There are currently no methods of creating compression athletic wear containing predominantly cotton. This project used an innovative approach to develop fabrics suitable for compression garments from Australian Long Staple cotton to favourably compete with currently available synthetic compression athletic wear. Through this project the comfort advantage of the developed fabric over the existing synthetic products was demonstrated. This research led to developing a fabric with improved breathability and heat and moisture transfer for people who prefer to get the ultimate benefits of cotton in their garments for sports and outdoor activities in all climates. This project will open up a new opportunity to develop an innovative

manufacturing technology and new market for Australian cotton, which could be used in otherapplication outside of active wear, such as medical textiles.

The purpose of this travel scholarship was to enable tone researcher to participate in and present results of Australian whitefly research at the 3rd International Whitefly Symposium in 2018, held in Perth. This meeting presented an unique opportunity for Australian researchers to attend an international gathering of prominent whitefly researchers from all over the world on home ground. The primary objectives of involvement were firstly, to enable professional relationships to be developed with researchers from the United States, Asia-Pacific countries, as well as Africa, where whitefly is a problem in field crops such as cotton. Secondly, to scope out the latest approaches to whitefly control in cotton and gauge applicability and transfer potential of such technologies to Australian cotton production systems. Finally, to enhance knowledge, professional development and potential for future collaborative work.

The Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) Strategic Plan 2018-2023 Goal 3 calls for building the adaptive capacity of the Australian cotton industry to enable the industry to achieve its future vision. It is noted that in addition, CRDC will provide our industry stakeholders with opportunities to develop and advance innovation skills. CRDC RD&E investments will prepare Australian cotton growers for our changing environment and provide them with the skills to adapt to those changes.

In 2015/16, it was recognised that significant technological advances were unfolding in an expanding Australian Cotton industry. Likewise, previous research had identified a nexus between an available skilled, capable, competent and professional workforce to meet these emerging needs. Thus, the rationale for this project was based on the premise that a skilled and capable workforce is known to contribute to the industry's profitability, sustainability and competitiveness.

However, the extent of availability of such a workforce to the range of cotton growers (from small to more corporate enterprises) as well as to the support sector (in particular the agribusiness advisory sector) and its capacity for, and methods of, professional development were largely unknown. Equally, ways of measuring the return on investment (ROI) and impact of undertaking forms of training, education, skill development and professional development were somewhat rudimentary.

Through the CRDC Managed People Program (also representing Cotton Australia or CA), there was a demonstrated need to understand more about how skill development and professional development was undertaken. Similarly, ways of measuring impact and value for money of these initiatives, to provide objective measures of success (on-farm, in businesses and for research work) was also required. As result, a Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) process was developed to measure the impact sought.

The most important message from the symposium was about complex and dynamic interactions. Interactions between host, pathogen and environment are what determine the economic impact of disease. In this report I try to highlight some key messages in these areas.