The Australian cotton industry is a regional based market focused industry generating in excess of $1 billion of export revenue. Cotton is produced in regional NSW and Queensland by up to 1,000 growers and employs up to 14,000 people depending on variable seasonal and market conditions. The productivity and sustainability of the cotton industry has improved significantly over the past 20 years through technology development and improved management practices.

The future of the industry is influenced by a number of critical uncertainties including climate variability, water availability, competitiveness with food, product differentiation, grower dedication and industry profitability. This means that while the cotton industry will continue, the size of the industry will vary year to year and growth is reliant on productivity gains, improved sustainability and market development.

The response to these challenges is to develop a vision outlining the preferred future which the industry can work collaboratively to: Australia cotton, carefully grown, naturally world’s best with the attributes of differentiated, responsible, tough, successful, respected and capable.

A central component of the industry’s success is a capable and effective network of RD&E organisations working with industry. The network faces challenges from a tight fiscal outlook and the need to maintain cotton specific capability as well as drawing on a broad range of capabilities to deliver on an expanding suite of RD&E priorities.

The purpose of the travel was to attend the 12th International Verticillium Symposium held in Ljubljana, Slovenia where presentions were made by two Australian researchers on the update on the defoliating strain of Verticillium dahliae VCG1A in Australia to an international audience of 88 participants from 22 countries.

Verticillium wilt is one of the most important pathogens many cotton growers are facing at this time. Two highly virulent strains of Verticillium dahliae are widespread and current management strategies such as crop rotation (cotton/wheat/long fallow/cotton rotations) are not effective and host resistance is temperature sensitive and therefore fails to manage this pathogen effectively. A better understanding of pathogen/host interaction, soil population and disease development, and practical strategies to manage this disease are needed. International collaborators, Prof. Jiménez-Díaz, and Prof. Subbarao are key note speakers at this symposium and attendance will enable professional relationships to be further developed, as well as developing new relationships with researchers who are developing management strategies for Verticillium wilt.

The closing session finished at 2.30pm with the news the next Symposium will be held in Wuhan, China in 2019.

The Upper Namoi Cotton Growers CGA showed particular interest in the water savings and water efficiency infrastructure available. The project involved exploring their potential implementation, in order to use less water and produce higher yields in their cotton production.

Furthermore, the CGA facilitated a bus trip to visit for growers in the Upper Namoi Valley to the Macquarie cotton, to explore how these innovations have improved their operational efficiencies, as well as more efficient water use.

The bus trip was completed on the 5-6th March 2019. Upper Namoi Cotton Growers had 15 growers participate. The trip exposed the cohort to many ideas and new innovative farming methods, such as provoking thought for implementing strip tilling, groundcover and water application rates.

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.

Following the introduction of transgenic, herbicide tolerant varieties, the Australian

cotton industry has developed glyphosate-centric weed management systems which

are less reliant on residual herbicides and non-herbicide methods of weed control,

such as cultivation and hand hoeing, than has been the case in the past. These

systems have contributed to improved crop yields, while reducing the

environmentally negative aspects of cotton production. However, farming systems

which rely too heavily on a single weed management tool are not sustainable, with

inevitable shifts to weed species that are tolerant of the management tool. Where the

single management tool is a herbicide, such as glyphosate, selection of herbicide

resistant weed species is also likely.

The primary aim of this project was to develop “intelligent” weed management

systems for transgenic cotton to optimize herbicide use, achieving better yields,

while maintaining the value of glyphosate to the farming system by minimizing the

selection pressure for species shift and glyphosate resistant weeds. This was

achieved using a series of field experiments to develop a weed control threshold

based on the critical period for weed control concept.

Information on the weed control threshold and sampling techniques has been

extended to the industry through articles in the Australian CottonGrower and in

WEEDpak on the Cotton CRC website. Ongoing work is looking at developing a

simplified sampling technique for the threshold using an electronic sensor to

estimate weed biomass and hence weed competitiveness.

Information on weed growth, development and seed production has also been

produced to provide guidance for the control of weed populations which are below

threshold, ensuring that weeds are controlled before they set seed.

The 2nd aim of the project was to provide cotton growers with information to allow

them to assess the likely effects of herbicide damage on a cotton crop in terms of

final yield and maturity, and subsequently to make better informed management

decisions for herbicide damaged crops.

A series of field experiments explored the effects of a range of phenoxy and other

herbicides on post-damage crop growth and development, including leaf, square

and boll production, crop maturity and final yield. Herbicides have been applied at

varying rates and stages of crop development. This information has been published

in WEEDpak on the Cotton CRC website, along with information assisting cotton

growers to compare the post-damage symptoms for a range of herbicides.

Experiments have also explored post-damage crop management options, but to date

have found no options which improve crop recovery.

These outcomes significantly progress the science of weed management in the

Australian cotton industry, providing guidelines for best practices for weeds.

The cotton industry has a reputation of being forward thinking, generous with knowledge, encouraging and inclusive. The same can (largely) be said for the reality and perception of the role and value of women in the industry. Women who are both farm based and involved in the industry, whether it is in a professional and engagement capacity, are generally well represented and well engaged.

The Cotton Research and Development Corporation, through Wincott, undertook this project to better understand the roles and contribution women make to all facets of the cotton industry. Four points of contact, resulting in a sample size of 298, were used to understand the role, level of engagement and interests of women working in both farm based and industry roles. The demographic of women is varied with ages ranging from students less than 20 years to retirees over 65 ranging from North Queensland to the Victoria border along the eastern coast of Australia. In general, women are highly educated, and juggle many concurrent roles – with varying percentage of their “professional” time spent in a cotton business.

This project quantified the valuable contribution women make to all facets of farm based and industry businesses; with specific focus on “business” and “people” areas, and to a lesser extent, “production” and “industry” areas. There are many factors or barriers that impact the contribution women make to both their business and the industry at large, none more than the many and varied roles they hold concurrently in their lives leading to a genuine competition for time to commit. Roles outside the core cotton business, lack of confidence, experience, skills and knowledge are lesser barriers to engagement. While half of all women are interested in increasing their level of engagement, most are happy with their current role. The reality of the fore-mentioned barriers makes change unrealistic for most respondents.

Consistent with being time poor, women find the most efficient and effective way to receive information is electronically. Face to face activities that deliver technical information to improve business or life will be prioritised based on need. Similarly social or networking activities are more valuable with delivery of technical information.

Many roles women hold are those which are “assumed” rather than “chosen”. To this end, there is a strong appetite for personal and professional development around the areas women are already involved in such as business and finance. There is also an interest in production related information so women can better understand and be more involved in conversation that happens “in the paddock”. Consistent with confidence and experience being a barrier to engagement, there is strong interest in improving interpersonal skills; such as communication, leadership and public speaking.

This report demonstrates that women involved in the cotton industry generally feel accepted and engaged, but are always looking for growth and change and a creative and efficient way to “do things better”.

The Gateway Schools to Agribusiness project aims to help young people make a successful transition from school into further education or employment, through a number of initiatives including embedding an agricultural context in a broad range of curriculum in schools in Queensland. It encourages meaningful collaboration between schools, vocational education and training, universities and industry to provide career opportunities in rural industries for students.

The Career Pathway into the Cotton Industry project adopted the principles used in the Gateway Schools to Agribusiness program to create links to agricultural industries in the school regional areas and develop a strong program of vocational education for students.

The project’s focus was two-fold namely:

o Develop contextualised curriculum examples that are developed from cotton industry RDE investments

o Provision of professional development to teachers that creates industry to education relationships.

The project created a model to engage schools in developing curriculum resources contextualised to their specific local agricultural industry i.e. cotton. The process was driven through a reference group comprised of school teachers, agricultural industry experts and a curriculum writer.

The outcomes have been industry-based learning in a subject other than traditional agricultural subjects to engage with students who may not have considered an agricultural career until that time. The cotton industry has been very receptive of this approach to raising the profile of careers opportunities and the opportunity for direct engagement with schools.

Learnings from the process of engaging with rural industry and linking regional businesses to local schools can be applied to other contexts to enable students to have a broader understanding of their regional career opportunities. Finally, if the industry aims to attract young people, industry focussed education and career awareness experiences at a school level is crucial. Teachers, career advisers and parents within a cotton growing region should be aware of the importance of the cotton industry, its breadth of opportunities across its supply chain, its innovative practices and its committed response to environmental changes. Once a better awareness and understanding occurs here, this awareness will then effectively transition through to our youth through curriculum and other avenues, ultimately working to attracting more into this vibrant agribusiness.

Words, words, words. .. They hardly seem capable of fulfilling the mammoth task that Irequire of them in moments like these. Admitted Iy, the task I ask of them is no mean fete- to convey the moments of sheer elation, the feelings of pure joy and the overall nostalgia that was and stillis the Euroscience

Open Forum, To rin0 201.0. Alas this journey of self discovery that I shared

with 5 lucky Australians needs to be documented. So here goes nothing. .. Throughout my domestic commute to Sydney I was welcomed by some familiar faces and equally so by some fresh ones, the Sydney International Airport was original assembly point of the ESOF 2010 "crew" and boy, were we excited. The smiles and welcomes that were abundant amongst all really

should have given me an indication of what lay ahead of me, but in the end I

don't think anything could have paved the way for the excitement of such a

trip. Some 36 hours after departing my humble abode in Goondiwindi,

Australia I arrived in Torino, Italy. Some may say I was a long way from home

(i. e. Geoff), but I had other thoughts. Even without my huge procession of

tangible materialistic objects that was my luggage, I felt as if Italy was a home

away from home- within an hour of grounding my feet in Europe. The lack-

lustre customs that welcomed us in Tonno gave me my first taste of the

Italian lifestyle. You could smell the culture in the air, quite literally, gelato, the

burning rubber of a vesper (moped) pounding the pavement, coffee, pizzas

backing, spaghetti boiling, all mixed in with the humidity characteristic of the Italian summer.

The thing that made ESOF special to me was that, no matter how many textbooks that I scrimmaged through, no matter how many EEl's that I wrote, no matter how many questions that I asked my Biology teacher I would never come remoteIy close to the amount of cutting edge science that was at my finger tips ready for me to explore during those 6 days at the Lingotto Centre and that is exactly what I did, I explored the infinite possibilities that science has to offer society as a whole. At the beginning of this year, not even the far distant reaches of my imaginations would have been able to house the

possibility of sitting in a lecture entitles:"Dietary Polyphenols- Combating Chronic Disease" or walking the hallways with A1do Fasolo, a neurobiologist specialising in the olfactory system or the one and only CarlJohan Sundberg- a licensed physician and associate professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, where his research group focuses on physical activity and the molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis and mitochondrial biogenesis in human skeletal muscle. What a marvel to be walking the same hallways as these men, little own to converse with them about fields of science that they are currently heading. As was explained in one of the lectures I attended, at some point in their lives, more than likely this moment would have occurred quite recently- these research scientists were the single most knowledgeable person on this planet, in regards to their research field.

This project provided for the extension of the Vegetable Irrigation Scheduling System (VISS). The VISS increases irrigation water use efficiency by advising irrigation managers of the specific irrigation needs of crops by accounting for plant growth factor, soil type and local evaporation rates. As a result of the project, VISS has been adopted by managers responsible for an estimated 20% of the water used by the vegetable industry on the Swan Coastal Plain. The knowledge about irrigation management of a much broader range of growers has also improved through the project. Increased water use efficiency is important to securing the ongoing viability of the vegetable industry as it is considered a key limiting resource.

The project has also contributed to the more sustainable management of the ground water resource because it has the potential to reduce the incidence of over-watering. Decreased over-watering is associated with reduced leaching of water and nutrients back to the aquifer. Grower feedback consistently indicates that their preferred extension mechanism is face-to- face contact. This project provided for a Field Extension Officer to provide information about the technology and the ongoing support required to assist adoption. A series of grower workshops were held across the main growing regions to improve grower knowledge of irrigation management with a focus on explaining the VISS. The Field Extension Officer held subsequent one-on-one meetings with growers on their properties to further explain the technology and assist with implementation. Follow-up meetings with growers adopting the VISS were held to further bed-down implementation. A range of written materials were also developed for publication in the WA Grower magazine which is distributed to every vegetable grower in Western Australia.

Extension of new technology with growers is a challenging process, particularly when it seeks to replace generations of traditional practice. Information transfer about implementing best practice between growers themselves is often poor. However, the experience of this project was that developing good stories about existing users to be used by an independent information source provided a useful basis for fostering further uptake, if those growers were willing to expose their results to the broader growing community.

There is still considerable work to be done in order to institute VISS as standard growing practice. However, the Western Australian vegetable industry has invested in achieving this beyond the scope of this project. A Field Extension Officer has been retained to continue extension efforts and Good Practice Demonstration sites on grower properties across all major Western Australian growing regions have been instituted. Amongst demonstration of other leading edge research and development outputs, these projects also incorporate demonstration of VISS.

With an increase in cotton production and the expected hilum of new people into the industry, understanding spinners' requirements will be of the utmost importance to assist the Australian cotton industry to continue to deliver quality cotton and maintain a competitive position in the international market. The 'Cotton Field to Fabric' course is delivered in three formats that gives people in the cotton production pipeline the opportunity to gain valuable and current information and understanding of the entire cotton production pipeline; from the field to the manufacture of fabric. The 'Cotton Field to Fabric' course provides formation on all aspects of cotton production highlighting to each sector within the industry the importance and their influence on quality. The three formats (initiatives) are; I) the three day formal course, which has been presented eleven times since 2005 and has been very successful with over 280 people attending the course; 2) the Roadshow, which has been held twice since 2005 to 343 people and involves short workshops in local cotton growing areas in NSW and Qld and 3) a one day course for secondary school students and teachers.

The success of tins program and its initiatives is very much dependant on the support from the cotton industry. The three initiatives that make up this project all have a different focus but are all aligned with essentially the same message. All participants obtain a clearer understanding of the entire cotton production and textile processing pipeline. In the past this has led to, and hopefully will continue to, a number of growers and commercial operations changing their practices to ensure that resources are better utilised and fibre quality is not compromised to ensure that yam and fabric manufacturers' needs are met. This together with other initiatives such as Best Management Practices and research in other areas should contribute to the sustainability and growth of the industry.