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.

Insecticide resistance represents one of the most significant limitations to successful pest control and economic production in Australian cotton industry. This project has continued a long-term resistance monitoring program for Helicoverpa armigera and H. punctigera for three seasons from 2008 to 2011. Other aspects of the project include cross-resistance and resistance mechanism research, accumulation of dose response data for new insecticides and resistance management formulation and promotion.

Insecticide resistance monitoring was conducted in 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11. The objective of the monitoring program was to detect resistance to conventional insecticidal chemistries used for control of Helicoverpa species and monitor trends and changes in resistance frequency. Conclusions from monitoring were:

*Very low resistance frequencies detected to the IPM compatible chemistries of indoxacarb, spinosad, emamectin benzoate and rynaxypyr.

* Resistance remains present but stable in field populations of H. armigera to chemistries that this species has developed resistance to in the past, including endosulfan and methomyl

* Widespread general pyrethroid resistance remains present in H. armigera populations as indicated by high resistance frequencies to fenvalerate. However resistance to bifenthrin is low and low and relatively stable.

* Very low level resistance to endosulfan, pyrethroids and abamectin in H. punctigera.

These results have direct implications for insecticide use within the cotton, grain and pulse industries. They indicate that effective control of Helicoverpa will continue to be provided by the IPM compatible insecticides utilised by these industries. Studies of cross-resistance conducted in this project demonstrate a lack of cross-resistance between these chemistries and Bt toxins which also gives confidence that efficacy will not be compromised by the high uptake of Bollgard II by the Australian cotton industry. Nevertheless, detectable resistance to these compounds, albeit at very levels, highlights the importance that insecticides continue to be used within the IRMS and that they continued to be monitored to ensure that their effectiveness is retained, particularly if their overall use increases.

The observed stabilisation of resistance to older insecticides is consistent a reduction in selection pressure associated with declines in insecticide use since the introduction of Bollgard II.

Comparison of the sequence of one esterase from pyrethroid resistant and susceptible larvae suggested a possible role in resistance for this esterase, with several point mutations between the S and R strain coding for different amino acids. Studies such as this are part of building an overall picture of resistance and the mechanisms behind it, and provide the basis for further investigation.

In addition to resistance monitoring and mechanism research for chemicals currently registered for use on cotton, it is essential that baseline responses be established for new chemistries prior to registration. Following on from similar work in establishing discriminating dose bioassays for rynaxypyr, a pilot study for determining the dose-response of a chemically similar anthranilic diamide, cyazypyr was undertaken. This enables early detection of resistance development in populations before it is evident in the field and allows appropriate management responses to be activated in order to minimise future resistance risk.The final aspect of this research is the formulation and promotion of resistance management strategies and principles. The assessment and formulation of the IRMS by TIMS has utilised resistance monitoring data which has enabled changes to be made to the IRMS at the request of the industry.

The Sicala 340BRF fibre grown commercially over the last three seasons generally produced a fibre with variable quality. The average fibre length of 1.24 inch was shorter than required and achieved a good average strength, although slightly below the minimum of 33 cN/tex, needed to attaract a genuine premium. The average Micronaire was within the required range for the production of fine count yarns in the 50-70 Ne count range. The fibre was generally immature, which is not unusual for mechanically picked defoliated cotton and coarse with the average nep content above 200 neps/gram and varied significantly, mainly due to aggressive saw ginning and immature cotton and possibly also due to differences between seasons, location and management. Roller ginning produced fibre which was 0.07 inches longer, with better length uniformity and less nep and short fibre content.

The ELS cotton produced over the last four seasons achieved good average fibre length, length uniformity and strength. The average Micronaire was within the required range, with the fibre being generally immature, fine with the average nep content above 180 neps/gram with large variations.

The fibre properties of commercially grown Sicala 340BRF is variable and does not achieve the length and strength required to be considered a genuine premium fibre. This is attruted to seasonal, management and ginning factors and may be the reason why the adoption by growers has been poor because of lack of confidence in achieving price premiums.

A commercial spinning trial was carried out in Vietnam, with Sicala 350B, showed that it is possible to produce a fine count combed yarns for knitting or weaving, in the range of 40 -70 Ne with Australian Long Staple cotton, although the quality of the yarns produced varied considerably. This was mainly due to the fact that the fibre provided for spinning did not meet the specifications for maturity which led to high nep content and short fibre content. This has once again highlighted that the quality of the fibre needs to be within the proposed specifications in order to produce acceptable 40-70 Ne yarns, without any subsequent processing performance issues in fabric formation.

This means that the Australian cotton industry still does not really know what this fibre is really capable. Further work in this area over the following year will involve conducting another commercial trial with Long Staple Upland cotton (both saw and roller ginned) which meets all the specifications required for a genuine premium fibre. It is hoped that this work will provide the Australian industry with information on the capability of the Long Staple Upland cotton which will assist in promoting the fibre to mills and encourage growers to grow this type of cotton.

The project’s research has developed a new system of soil management. Eight fruitgrowers have set up fruit trees in commercial areas using the system. The oldest are three years and their soils have developed into excellent structure, with many of the properties of the most productive soils in the world. In the meantime, The project developed management list of soil inputs needed to achieve super soil. The additional inputs, additional to the project’s last Final Report, include growing rye grass prior to the new planting, avoid any fallow (no grass), hilling to beds, build beds in stages, incorporate dry straw from the rye grass.

The key aims are the build up of soil organic matter and greatly increased biological activity. The project’s experiments have shown that by applying these practices, the soils are close to the properties of super soil – the most productive of the world’s soils. The rye grass provides the means. Rye grass roots develop rhizosheaths of soil particles, attached to each root and up to 2mm in diameter. Because of the enhanced supply of organic metabolites, soil nutrients and water, organic matter builds up in the sheath, and within the sheath the organic matter is protected from being consumed by the normal soil microbes. The rhizosheath therefore supplies the key inputs – organic matter and biological activity – required for rapid development of ideal soil structure.

The fruit industry needs to increase its productivity too equal world’s best and thus compete in the market. This applies to all Australian horticulture industries. Large potential exists: e.g. the average yield of canning pears is 40 t/ha compared with best overseas yields of 180t/ha and calculated potential of 220t/ha The major cause of low productivity is Australia’s mediocre soils. Our soils go hard in orchards. This is called coalescence and it severely restricts the growth and function of tree roots. The most productive soils overseas remain loose, soft and porous to depth. Coalescence restricts the size of the tree root system, but also very much restricts the flow of water from the soil to the root surface. The project has developed a new system of orchard soil management that overcomes coalescence.

The key properties to develop in the soils are the build up of soil organic matter and greatly increased biological activity. The project had developed a detailed list of inputs for soil preparation and subsequent management. These provide the organic matter and biological activity and the main input is to grow rye grass. The grass produces rhizosheaths of soil around each grass root and it is here that the soil changes to the properties of worlds best soils.

The purpose of the travel was to attend and present results of research into plant based measures of irrigation scheduling at the ASA/CSSA/SSSA International Annual Conference in Long Beach, California. This was meant to promote Australian cotton industry and research using an international platform. The travel was also to meet with collaborators, Drs James Mahan and Paxton Payton, at USDA, Lubbock, Texas for continued work on improving Australian irrigation strategies whilst understudying the American system.

Some of the outcomes of the travel were

a. Research result was delivered and well received by the scientific community judging by the number of visitors to the poster session and questions asked

b. Australian cotton industry and research were well promoted at an international level

c. The scientific exchange to USDA, Lubbock, Texas enabled improvement of existing synergies in our research collaborations with partners in the USA

d. Advanced exploratory data analysis, presentation and interpretations using data from irrigation experiments conducted in both the U.S. and Australia were conducted.

b) other highlights

At the conference, it was apparent that the Australian cotton industry is at the forefront of canopy temperature based furrow irrigation scheduling. Also although the USA and Australian cotton industries have similar challenges in terms of scheduling irrigation, the Australian system, requires a very different approach at fine tuning irrigation schedule.