During 2008‐2011, the Australian Cotton industry faced numerous challenges when it experienced significant drought over a number of years, followed by crippling floods in late 2010, early 2011. These environmental aspects combined with a rapidly increasing demand from alternative regional industries for labour and a significant expansion of the industry regional footprint particularly in southern NSW. As a direct result of these challenges, the human capacity within cotton enterprises and agribusiness / service industries was significantly depleted. Industry had to do more with less to remain viable. To assist industry in revitalising this capacity, industry invested in the Professional Development Manager position occupied by Mark Hickman (Qld DEEDI). The position had a significant influence on the human capacity and professional development programs that focused skill sets to drive workforce development rather than knowledge creation.

Traditional extension programs were aligned to educational outcomes associated with the vocational education and training sector and a major effort was placed on building relationships with stakeholders that influence the state and national training agenda to ensure the cotton industry needs were addressed. Strategic programs created by this project resulted in the Cotton Industry being acknowledged in two independent reports as a leading industry nationally and internationally for capacity building programs. One review commissioned by the National Quality Council of Australia; (a peak vocational body) highlighted Cotton Industry use of skills sets to drive workforce development and industry qualifications. This was one of 4 case studies selected by the NQC to demonstrate to the Commonwealth government justification for significantly shifting the existing funding

arrangements from a traditional qualification competition basis to a skill set basis.

The second was conducted by Dr Mike Rafferty (Sydney University: for the International Labour Organisation United Nations) in an Australian review which investigated how the Cotton Industry was developing Skills for Green Jobs. A paper was delivered in Geneva 2010. The project provided numerous innovative products that are industry legacies. One legacy is the creation, industry endorsement and subsequent implementation of agriculture’s first best management practice accreditation of an individual. The industry award, Certified BMP Farm Manager, aka Diploma of Agriculture (specialise in Cotton) assesses and acknowledges the individual’s management practices and established systems to achieve and operate a myBMP accredited farm. The second legacy is the E learning platforms and

subsequent relationships established with AACC and Tocal College as a result of the Australian Flexible E learning Framework funding. This external industry funding that resulted in four online products for industry addressing OH & S, staff management, skills recognition and system evaluations of overhead irrigation systems. However, the experience provided invaluable learnings for the contextualisation, design and implementation of this alternative learning platform ‐ learnings that will be value added to in future projects. The third legacy is how industry has also fully embraced a new human resources module that was initially created by and then co developed by Mark Hickman. The module is included in the in the myBMP package and is acknowledged as a leading module for grower engagement.

Having a designated Professional Development Manager within industry has identified financial training subsidy opportunities and has created an ability to influence the national skilling agenda through the provision of industry intelligence. In particular, the cotton industry was one of the few agricultural industries to make the federal Enterprise based Productivity Placement Program (EBPPP). The combination of this federal (EBPPP) and state based Productivity Placement Programs (PPP) funding has increased the exposure of industry to vocational assessments through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) ‐ an impact that has resulted in 54 people participating in the industry first RPL program.

In conclusion, the combination of close working relationships with industry and vocational stakeholders and the established strategies from this project’s activity have provided foundations for future capacity building programs. Revitalising the labour pool and technical expertise available to the industry is a long term process. However, project CRC 5.01.26 (Professional Development Manager‐ Cotton) has made a meaningful industry contribution.

Commercial biopesticides based on entomopathogenic fungi are expected to be registered for use as microbial biological control of aphids in Australia in the near future. Field trials of prototype biopesticides based on entomopathogenic fungi have shown that while aphids are highly susceptible, natural enemies are not affected in the field, even though they are susceptible in the laboratory (DAQ111C). Based on the work of Roy et al. (2008), the hypothesis tested was that beneficial insects have behavioural responses to the biopesticides that allow them to avoid infection. The project observed the behaviour of predators of aphids (green lacewings) and both infected aphids and cotton leaf surfaces treated with biopesticides. Most of these studies were conducted on leaves taken from cotton plants grown in temperature controlled growth cabinets at QUT. The biopesticides used are based on a commercial formulation of the fungus Metarhizium (Met 52, Novozymes Ltd), and Australian isolates of Beauveria, both held at QUT.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the ecological relationship and behaviours between two particular natural enemies of the cotton pest Aphis Gossypii (Cotton Aphid); Mallada signatus (Green Lacewing) (supplied by Bugs for Bugs) and M. anisopliae. The goal of the study is to be able to improve management of insect pests in the future. More specifically this study aims to identify if M. signatus larvae can detect the presence of insect pathogenic fungi M. anisopliae. M. signatus is a non-selective or generalist predator. The lack of a specific prey make this insect extremely useful as a biological control because once the pest population has been brought to low levels the predator will then move on to a different more abundant prey in the area which means that the population of pest insects will be slower to recover as there is ongoing predation in the area keeping numbers of pests low.

These regional extension positions are a part of the Cotton CRC National Cotton Extension Team which has worked on an industry‐wide scale to take a knowledge management approach to deliver grower focused, participatory adoption and extension programmes. The project commenced in February 2007 with two regional extension officer positions on the Darling Downs based at Dalby and in the Border Rivers region based at Goondiwindi. It had been preceded by a QDPI&F funded extension position at Dalby from which Greg Salmond had transferred in September 2006 and an industry funded extension position at Goondiwindi from which Rebecca Smith resigned in June 2006.

The project was established in accordance with the 2005 Industry Extension Review with the two regional positions included in the one project in a co funded partnership between Cotton CRC/CRDC and QPIF. Salary costs have been shared on a 50:50 basis with operational funds provided by industry and overhead costs funded by QPIF.

A rigorous recruitment program resulted in the commencement of the new extension

officers, Kate Charleston at Dalby and Rod Gordon at Goondiwindi in February 2007. Both officers became well established during 2007 having initiated and conducted a broad range of extension activities according to well developed regional and national extension plans. Regional priorities and needs were identified, prioritised and incorporated in work plans in collaboration with growers, consultants and other extension officers. Unfortunately, both officers vacated their positions in May 2008. Kate Charleston transferred to an insect IPM extension position in QPIF and Rod Gordon resigned to accept the offer of a grower relationship and marketing position with Auscott Gwydir after a short but very successful tenure at Goondiwindi.

Following extensive discussion between CRDC and QPIF relating to the turnover of staff, the recruitment of new officers was deferred pending a review of the extension officer roles to consider the issue of staff retention for the longer term. The development and agreement on a Discussion Paper during 2008 led to the recruitment for the Darling Downs position being implemented in November 2008 and the appointment of Duncan Weir in April 2009 based in Toowooomba. A new project proposal was conditionally approved by CRDC in April 2009 for commencement on July 1, 2009. Accordingly, a formal review based on facilitated conducted by Ewan Colquhoun in June 2009 has been completed.

Interim arrangements for the maintenance of the project were implemented in October 2008 when Ingrid Rencken was appointed on a temporary parttime basis from October 1 to June 30 to maintain essential project activities.

Duncan Weir is rapidly establishing his regional extension role in the project since

commencing in April 2009. He has maintained the regional Cotton Tales newsletters,

completed the NUE site sampling and participated in a range of industry activities whilst

establishing working relationships with growers, consultants and industry organisations.

The extent of achievement against each of the objectives has been constrained by the mid season commencement and short fourteen month tenure of the appointed extension officers.Sound regional extension plans were developed and implemented in both regions for the 07/08 year following consultation with the regional reference panels including growers from the regional cotton grower association and consultants. In the absence of full time officers in 08/09, essential elements form the plans were addressed by Ingrid Rencken with support from Jenelle Hare, David Kelly and project superviser, Geoff McIntyre.

Both extension officers applied a range of extension delivery methods during 07/08.

However, they both experienced considerable difficulty in engaging significant numbers of growers given the dry season which, combined with low prices for cotton and higher grain returns, resulted in significantly reduced cotton plantings in both regions and substantially tempered grower interest and enthusiasm in many industry activities.The difficult 07/08 seasonal conditions limited opportunities for collaborative field activities quite substantially such that the extension effort was focussed on whole of region approaches particularly through Cotton Tales newsletter, and development of information resources.

Project team members including Kate Charleston, Rod Gordon, Ingrid Rencken, Duncan

Weir, Jenelle Hare and Geoff McIntyre established a strong collaborative partnership with Cotton Australia contributing considerable support to the development of the industry BMP program with Bec Smith and Louise Adcock. Technical information delivery has been in the context of industry best practice providing support to the BMP program. There is a challenge for stronger engagement with growers, consultants and agribusiness in the regional extension program. The plan is for a more strategic engagement especially with growers on an individual or small group basis for specific purposes to address regional priority issues through the implementation of field demonstration trials to evaluate and adapt new technologies. This could result in a reinvigoration of area wide management groups. The implementation of industry BMP provides an ideal framework in which to deliver these strategies in collaboration with the Cotton Australia Regional managers. The existing strong partnerships with consultants and agribusiness must be maintained and enhanced.

The aim of this study was to conduct processing trials at the CMSE Cotton Mill, with a bale of the current Australian Long Staple Upland variety (Sicala 340BRF) with fibre properties that fall into stipulated specifications. Fine count combed ringspun yarns were produced to determine the quality and processing performance of these yarns, with information from these trials assisting in the commercial mill trials planned for 2013.

We were able to spin 40-60 Ne combed ringspun yarns without any processing performance issues; we were however not able to spin 74 Ne yarns successfully. The quality of the yarns produced was uneven and not strong enough for the weaving process.

The trial showed that although the fibre properties reported by the HVI such as length, strength and Micronaire were within the contracted specifications we were unable to produce even strong yarns needed for weaving. The reason for this was due to the fact that the fibre was immature resulting in higher than expected nep and short fibre content which affected the evenness and strength of the yarns.

The message is clear; we will need to fully describe the cotton; adding fibre properties such as maturity, fineness and nep content to HVI measurements to ensure that spinners can produce quality 40-80 Ne yarns without any processing performance problems. This will increase the demand for this cotton and ultimately lead to more growers growing the cotton due to the premiums spinners are prepared to pay for this cotton.

The broader focus of the projectis to look at mechanisms whereby the sustainability of Australian cotton can be determined and promoted through the textile supply chain. This specific research was undertaken to develop a robust methodology to determine the carbon footprint levels of Australian cotton in accordance with international requirements.

The project consisted of three tasks:

a) The selection of a range of internationally accepted calculators suitable to cotton

by The collection of representative cotton farm data in Australia to populate the calculators with

c) A comparative analysis of the results and a recommended methodology for future assessments for the textile supply chain

Funding was therefore requested to visit some suitable farms and industry experts to collect the data.

Resistance to poses a threat to the continued sustainable production of cotton that transgenic agriculture has enabled. This project provided preliminary genomic data to investigate the evolution of resistance to glyphosate in agricultural weeds. With the Science award funding I sequenced the transcriptome (expressed genes) and also part of the genome of two weed species that have recently developed resistance to glyphosate; Fleabane (Conyza bonariensis) and Awnless Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa colona). These data form the basis of a post-doc project exploring the role of genetic diversity in the evolution of resistance, and methods that use genomic approaches to identify novel resistance mechanisms.

Fusarium wilt training for NSW DPI pathologists has valuable industry wide outcomes. Updating knowledge and testing skills will enable timely and accurate diagnosis and the ability to differentiate between various Fusarium strains. This workshop provided the opportunity to confer/collaborate with International experts for this pathogen. The International Fusarium Workshop in Kansas, USA is a workshop taught by eight international experts of Fusarium. With increased knowledge and skills, in particular morphological, genetic and molecular techniques used for identifying and characterising Fusarium, vigilance on diseases of cotton continues to be an area of ongoing education and research.

Two ambitious objectives were set for this project. The first objective was to design and build a moisture measuring sensor without the operational shortcomings of current sensors and the connection of this sensor with a moisture replenishing system. The second, unrelated to moisture management, but no less important in terms of fibre quality preservation, was to design and build a sensor to detect contamination in loose fibre linked with a system to remove detected contamination from transport ducting. Both objectives are aligned with the industry’s strategy of maintaining and improving fibre quality.

Moisture sensor

The moisture sensor was built and successfully tested in industry. Test results show the sensor gives stable, accurate results that can be used to manage heating and humidification in the gin. Results from the sensor were used to model a gin heating/humidifying control system. The model showed the system could improve fibre quality and return significant savings in energy to ginners. Applications for the moisture sensor patent in various countries are currently being made. Commercial interest in the sensor to date has been circumspect; Cotton Incorporated has indicated interest, along with Samuel Jackson (Lubbock TX). More representation to industry is needed to establish the benefits of this invention.

Contamination sensor

During this project a proof-of-concept contamination sensor was designed, built and tested at CSIRO. Components of the sensor include balanced illumination using visible light, a high speed colour line-scan camera and image analysis software. No extraction points for contaminants were developed as this is already a mature technology implemented in commercial systems for spinning mills. The components for this system were selected after review of a wide range of applicable technologies. Work is continuing with the Australian ginning industry and Loptex Italia on development and installation of contamination sensors for Australian gins.

In the autumn of 2011, CRDC identified that the forecast of a second consecutive La Nina year represented a potential disease risk to the cotton industry that was linked to the over-winter management of weeds, ratoon and volunteer cotton on farms. The disease was Cotton Bunchy Top (CBT), a viral disease that is spread by cotton aphid. Cotton aphid is a pest that can over-winter on weeds and ratoon/volunteer cotton increasing the risk of transmission of CBT in the following cotton crop.

Given the forecast for a wetter than average season in 2011/12, CRDC commissioned the Crop Consultants Association (CCA) to run an awareness campaign of its members and then ask them to survey the farms of their clients to rank CBT risk with follow-up actions and advice for those farms where the risk was assessed as moderate to high.

The project enlisted the assistance of the cotton industry’s Development and delivery team to develop the awareness resources (information sheet and video on aphids, farm hygiene and CBT) as well as the survey tool. A total of 48 CCA members participated in the survey leading to a comprehensive assessment of risk on many cotton farms with those at most risk receiving follow up visits and development of action plans to control over-wintering weeds and/or ratoon or volunteer cotton.

The project was a success on a number of fronts:

1. It developed improved resources on aphids, the importance of overwintering weed farm hygiene and the reduction of risk for the transmission of CBT the following season.

2. It established an integrated working relationship between the CCA and the cotton Development and Delivery

3. It delivered an effective short-term campaign which improved the knowledge of CCA members and led to an improved response to this threat thus reducing risk of CBT becoming a major threat in the 2011-12 season.

Diseases of Cotton XI project aimed to increase Australia’s biosecurity preparedness through

early detection by completing annual disease surveillance on commercial cotton farms,

recording the presence/absence of exotic cotton diseases and establishing Australia’s capacity

to screen for exotic strains of bacterial blight.

Seedling diseases continue to threaten the productivity and sustainability of cotton production

in Australia. Seedling disease occurs when cotton is invaded by a number of soil-borne fungi

including Pythium and Rhizoctonia spp. Continued independent evaluation of effectiveness

of seed treatment fungicides and combinations against seedling disease is needed. These

trials provide the most up to date information on new and existing seed treatments available.

The cotton industry spends millions of dollars on seed treatments each season. It is important

that the effectiveness of current fungicides (including the industry standard) and potentially

new treatments are continually evaluated. Including different chemicals and noting the

results also indicates the dominant pathogens present during each season. For example when

stand counts have been high under Apron (Metalaxyl) treatments, this can indicate that the

dominant pathogen was likely Pythium spp. Alternatively when stand counts are high under

PCNB treatments, this can indicate that Rhizoctonia was the likely dominant pathogen.

Biofumigation is the term used to describe the natural suppression of soil borne pests and

diseases using plants containing high levels of glucosinolates (GSLs) in their tissue such as

Brassica crops. Glucosinolates are naturally occurring sulphur compounds that provide

plants with protection. When these plants are incorporated into the soil, tissue is disrupted

and the glucosinolates are broken down by the plant enzyme Myrosinase to produce

phytochemicals called isothiocynates (ITCs). The ITCs are biocidal to a range of organisms

and have the potential to suppress pest and disease organisms. In previous biofumigation

experiments at Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI), treatments included canola,

vetch, chickpea and fallow. The biofumigation trial in this project continued the research

from Diseases of Cotton X. The biofumigation crops included vetch, Doublet fodder radish,

biofum blend (40% Doublet Fodder Radish, 50% Carinata Brassica and 10% Achilles white

mustard) and a fallow treatment. Different Brassicas release different quantities of ITCs,

therefore it is important to include more than one variety when assessing crops for

biofumigation potential.

The long term disease survey data has shown an increase in Verticillium wilt in NSW over

recent years. Cotton varieties resistance to the pathogen that causes Verticillium wilt is

temperature sensitive. Consequently varieties that are resistant at 25-27oC are susceptible at

20-22oC. Preliminary examination of some fields in the long term data had shown that fields

with a high incidence of black root rot early in the season also had high incidence of

Verticillium wilt later in the season. Discussions with leading pathologist Dr Stephen Allen

about his experiments and observations also indicated there may be an interaction. The long

term data provides an excellent opportunity to look for potential interactions between

pathogens and incidence/severity of disease.

The NSW pathology team worked in close collaboration with QDAFF pathologist Dr Linda

Smith and also UNE researcher and senior lecturer Dr Lily Pureg studying the pathogens that

cause black root rot and Verticillium wilt in cotton. NSW DPI assisted with collecting and

supplying pathogen cultures to both Linda and Lilly. NSW DPI continued to work closely

with CSIRO (planting off site trials), CSD Dr Stephen Allen with disease surveys and disease

enquiries and Dr Nilantha Hulugalle in assessing his field trials for disease.