CSIRO Plant lndustry's Cotton Management Support Systems Team (CMSST) develops and

delivers decision support systems (DSS) to improve the profitability and sustainability of

cotton production in Australia. The suite of DSS tools has continually evolved in response to

changes in demand, science, technology and extension since the late 1970s.

This report outlines a four year business plan (2007-2010) for the CMSST. The plan focuses

CMSST efforts on effectiveIy positioning and delivering DSS tool in cotton R&D and

extension to maximise industry outcomes and address these specified issues:

. Identify key user profiles and theirrespective needs and wants;

. Propose a range of adoption targets for cotton DSS;

. Identify positive and limiting factors influencing adoption (in software graphic user

interface (GUI) and for user training) in particular; and

. Outline a strategy to overcome limiting factors in adoption for the broader cotton

industry Extension network.

The report consists of three sections:

. Situation: analyses industry, R&D and extension context of CMSST and DSS;

. Goals: establishes the team's focus and associated adoption targets;

. Implementation plan: outlines 2007-2010 operational plan.

Soil biota communities are one of the most diverse groups of earth’s biota. Soil organisms regulate a number of processes in soils that are not only critical for productivity but are also essential for maintenance of ecosystem health. Herbicide use is a vital component of modern agriculture, in particular under reduced till systems. With increased adoption of stubble retention and reduced till practices and the introduction of new herbicides, herbicide use will remain an essential practice in the near future. Non-target effects of herbicides on soil biological activities may (i) cause undesirable effects on essential transformation processes (e.g. reduced nitrification and nitrogen mineralisation) or (ii) result in unexpected damage to crops (e.g. increased diseased incidence). Non-target effects of herbicides could be either positive or negative. If herbicide application is to remain a viable practice in sustainable farming systems, evaluation of herbicide effects especially from repeated and / or multiple herbicide use is essential to ensure optimum nutrient availability and plant growth. We measured the impact of multiple herbicide application on the populations of selected functional groups of soil microorganisms and the biological processes they mediate, using surface soil samples from field experiments were conducted at ACRI farm sites.

A brief summary of the results from our herbicide related research is as follows:

1) It is essential to use an integrated approach of testing key groups of biota and associated activities in order to evaluate and predict unforeseen non-target effects from herbicide use. Effects of each herbicide need to be considered separately as the herbicide-microbe-soil interactions vary for different herbicides.

2) Short-term impacts of most of the herbicides we tested are reversible partly or fully within 10-weeks after herbicide application, hence it may be possible to develop management options to reduce non-target negative impacts.

3) A number of herbicides currently used in cotton soils have a negative impact on key groups of microorganisms, however not all herbicides caused negative impacts.

4) Some herbicides caused a significant shift in bacteria : fungi ratio, reduced decomposition rate of cotton stubble and populations and activities of nitrifying microorganisms, the magnitude of herbicide impacts varied with season.

5) Application of ‘lay by’ herbicides slowed the recovery in MB levels compared to the treatments with initial herbicide application only. At the final sampling microbial biomass levels in the treatments with ‘lay by’ were lower than those in the single application of herbicides (10-15%).

6) An appropriate recovery period for soil biota should be allowed between herbicide applications and modification of herbicide regimes may be possible to avoid the application of herbicides that either reduce microbial activity or cause microbial stress in sequence before the soil has recovered from the effects of previous application of herbicides.

7) Some herbicides applied in cotton had negative impact on symbiotic N2-fixation by legumes in rotation (e.g. Pendimethalin, Prometryn > Trifluralin, Diuron). Results also suggest that it is possible to reduce any residual effects of cotton herbicides on N2-fixation by legumes in rotation through using less persistent herbicides.

Finally these results from cotton soils and other work from dryland cropping systems suggest that appropriate use of herbicides could be less destructive to soil biota and biological processes and by changing herbicide usage pattern (in terms of type of herbicide and time of application) cotton farmers not only could manage the weeds but also reduce any long-term impacts from herbicide use

This project investigated how key insect predators contribute to the suppression of the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, in Australian cotton crops and explored the interaction between predator abundance and diversity, agronomic practices and predation of H. armigera eggs and larvae. Several strategies were used to determine the importance of different insect predators in cotton: manipulative experiments, direct monitoring of insect abundance in commercial cotton crops, observation of predator behaviour under natural conditions and development of diagnostic laboratory tests (ELISA) to detect recent consumption of H.armigera by predatory arthropods.

The predatory bigeyed bug (Geocoris lubra) and damsel bug (Nabis kinbergii) were

significant predators of H. armigera in cotton crops during seasons of low and high

H.armigera abundance. Over two consecutive cotton seasons (2001-02 and 2002-03), 12-14% of G. Iubra and 22-28% of N. kinbergii tested positive for recent predation on H. armigera using ELISA. Juvenile G. lubra survive and develop better on a diet of H. armigera compared with a diet of aphids under laboratory conditions, further suggesting that H.armigerea is an important food source for this predator. Warm temperatures (above 27 C) also favour breeding of this species.

Although the predatory red and blue beetle, Dicranolaius bellulus, was highly abundant in both the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, only I% tested positive for recent predation on H.armigera. However the diagnostic ELISA test is less effective with predatory beetles than , so these results may underestimate the rate of predation for this species. Most species of native ladybirds found in Australian cotton crops feed primarily on aphids but may feed on H. armigera in the absence of their preferred prey.

Early in the growing season, ants (Pheidole and Iridomyrmex spp.) were observed to prey upon H. armigera eggs in small quantities. Cultivation and flood irrigation severely disrupt ant populations in cotton crops and limit their impact as predators. Minimum tillage combined with a cotton/wheat rotation can increase ant abundance relative to other. Some spiders such as the yellow nightstalker (Cheiracanthium spp. ) are

likely to feed upon Helicoverpa spp. , although their impact on H. armigera was not specifically addressed in this project.

Insecticide use remains the key factor affecting the abundance and diversity of beneficial arthropods in Australian cotton crops. When a soft insecticide regime is used in both conventional and Ingard cotton fields, the abundance of beneficial arthropods is likely to increase dramatically in response to crop growth overthe course of the season.This project has improved our understanding of insect predator ecology and has demonstrate the importance of predatory bugs as key predators of H. armigera. When making pest

management decisions, growers need to consider not only the total abundance of beneficial arthropods within their cotton crops, but also the species composition of the beneficial

community.

The Australian cotton industry has now had three seasons of commercial scale use of Bollgard II, the two Bt gene product developed by Monsanto for insertion into cotton for control of Heliothis. This follows seven years of use of the single gene Ingard product. A combination of factors including: excellent efficacy against the target pest, a rapidly expanding suite of varieties containing the product, a stepwise increase in the technology fee, no cap on the percentage of a farm that can be grown to Bollgard II and management benefits associated with its use has seen a rapid increase in the acceptance of the technology across both the irrigated and dryland sectors of the industry

A case study of bankless channel irrigation in the Border Rivers region of NSW. This case study features the Cook family of 'Turkey Lagoon' near Boggabilla, who have recently developed two fields into bankless channels.

While the cotton industry relies on large inputs of Nitrogen fertilizer, most growers are confident that their management of this input is satisfactory. Even so, substantial improvement can often be made on the most efficient of farms. Also, many growers are now becoming more aware of other nutritional problems. Increasingly, phosphorus, potassium and soil sodicity are creating concern for growers. Some of these problems have been created over a long period of time and hence identification and awareness of impending problems is imperative before they can be addressed. Often, the solution is not immediate. Hence, monitoring the availability of nutrients in the soil is critical, as is monitoring of nutrient uptake by the crop using leaf analysis. This will provide data to ensure deficiencies are recognised before they affect productivity and longer-term problems (eg soil sodicity) are addressed. The NUTRlpak manual was published in 2001 and delivers a detailed coverage and background to nutritional problems encountered in cotton production. It can be used to help interpret laboratory analysis to determine deficiencies, toxicities and imbalances between nutrients. The most important issues related to cotton nutrition are summarised below

Ecosystem services are the natural processes responsible for clean air, clean water, healthy uncontaminated food and a host of other environmental goods that we take for granted. Natural control of pests on farms, the maintenance of biologically active and productive soils, water filtration, the breakdown of wastes and pollutants, provision of shade and shelter, and pollination are some of the services that we all depend on to a lesser or greater extent, but probably give little thought to. Ecosystem services can be damaged through ignorance and mismanagement or simply because there are no markets in which to trade particular services or their products. The concept of ecosystem services is broad and a new field of research endeavour in natural resource management. Research in ecosystem services potentially offers quantitative ecological, economic and social information (the 'triple-bottom line')to aid decision makers and is a useful framework for establishing equitable and transparent resource management policy at state, regional and local scales. There may be trade-offs between ecological and economic goals, and we are attempting to quantify those trade-offs using bio-economic models.

No clear signal for either wet or dry precipitation for the April-June period Most models showing a trend towards average temperatures through the April-June period

As anyone who has tried to kill cotton will know, controlling unwanted plants goes from being difficult with small plants, to almost impossible with larger plants. However it is a skill all cotton growers need to know.

The world's first case of glyphosate-resistant sowthistle has been found at Gunnedah in the Upper Namoi, providing a start reminder to growers that vigilance is needed in integrated weed control.