It is evident from experience with the resistance of H. armigera to chemical insecticides and its demonstrated ability to develop resistance to the Cry1Ac toxin produced in INGARD™ that single-gene cotton is not a sustainable control strategy. The second generation of transgenic cotton (BOLLGARD II) prodcues both the Cry1Ac and toxins. This combination was expected to significantly reduce the ease with which H. armigera can develop resistance to these plants. However, a mutagenesis approach adopted by Dr J. Daly has shown that H. armigera is at least capable of to a Cry2A toxin (Cry2a), as well as to Cry1Ac. This result shows that the cotton industry needs to prepare itself for resistance to Cry2Ab as it has with Cry1Ac.

The aim of this project was to determine the magnitude and nature of resistance to Cry2Ab by H. armigera so that an appropriate resistance strategy can be implemented to sustain the use of cry1Ac/cry2Ab transgenic cotton. In the first instance, we set out to establish a Cry2Ab-resistant strain by laboratory selection. Based on our experience in selecting for Cry1A-resistance, we expected that the selection process would be lengthy and that we may only succeed towards the end of the project, at which time we would undertake a preliminary characterisation.

The project was successful beyond expectations in that it produced not one but three strains of H. armigera with resistance to Cry2A. The development of Cry2A resistance in three independent strains after only three generations of selection, coupled with the discovery of Cry2A resistance alleles in field collected insects (in project CSE104C), demonstrates that the optimism that BOLLGARD II™ cotton would provide a solution to the resistance issue may have been misplaced.

Preliminary characterisation of the first of the laboratory-selected Cry2A-resistant strain (TABOC) showed that is not associated with resistance to Cry1Ac and therefore would not be expected to survive on early season BOLLGARD II™. It appears that the resistance detected in the TABOC strain differs from that in the strain obtained by the use of the F2 screen (SP15). It therefore appears that H. armigera has at least two options for resistance to Cry2A.

It is too early at this time to identify the likely consequences of Cry2A resistance in H. armigera. In a successor project to this and CSE104, we will establish whether we have detected one or more types of Cry2A resistance in H. armigera. We shall also determine the dominance of the resistance alleles in the TABOC and SP15 strains and the fitness cost associated with that resistance. This will enable us to develop a refuge strategy to minimise the risk of resistance that would undermine the sustainability of BOLLGARD II™ cotton. Until there is a better understanding of the nature and extent of the threat posed by Cry2A resistance, the cotton industry would be well advised to adopt a cautious attitude to its management of BOLLGARD II™.

Shielded sprayers have been widely and quickly adopted by cotton growers for weed control

in the inter-row. In the last three seasons, the increase in area sown to RoundUp Ready®

cotton has been a major contributor to this because the label directions of RoundUp Ready

Herbicide® specifys the use of shielded sprayers when growing RoundUp Ready® cotton.

After the 2001/02 season, growers reported yield losses up to 30% after using shielded

sprayers. It is thought that leakage of spray was the probable cause of this yield loss. The

Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) provided funding to both

Conservation Farmers Inc (CFI) and The Centre for Pesticide Application and Safety (CPAS),

School of Agronomy and Horticulture, The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus to

undertake studies to determine the major factors causing herbicide leakage from shields and

to develop strategies that would reduce potential yield loss, but not affect weed control.

Both CFI and CPAS have collaborated in a number of trials to maximise resources. This

document highlights preliminary wind tunnel (laboratory) and field research on the influence of

shield height, wind speed (travel speed), nozzle selection (spray quality), boll retention and

herbicide efficacy. In a one year study there is no scope to confirm experimental

observations, and therefore all results should be seen as preliminary outcomes.

In growing their crops Australian cotton farmers need to comply with Australian regulations. Within Australia, there is a detailed and rigorous process for the , the setting of residue limits (MRLs) and for the labelling of food going to the consumer.

However, knowing that you have used pesticides according to the label and Good Agricultural Practice as defined within Australia may not be enough if cotton byproducts are exported or used in the diet of livestock either domestically or destined for export to countries where regulations differ. To help avoid potentially damaging problems in our export trade, the CRDC have funded a project to monitor the development of international food standads at Codex (the United Nations international food standards setting body).

In addition, gaining access to crop protection products is important to the cotton industry particularly when new pests, such as silver leaf whitefly, emerge. To ensure that relevant crop protection products were available to manage this pest regulatory support was sought in the gaining of APVMA permits. Kevin Bodnaruk’s firm, AKC Consulting, took on these tasks.

To establish if the spider communities in cotton at different locations around Australia are similar, we sampled, using beatsheets and pitfall traps, over 4500 spiders from seven locations extending from the tropical north to the temperate south.

We found that the spider communities around Australia are not structurally identical in that the most prominent spiders do not forage using the same methods. In the spider community sampled by beatsheets, the communities in the south were dominated by Oxyopidae (lynx spiders) which are stalkers; while the communities in the north were dominated by Cycloctenidae, which is a foliage runner. In the more central locations, the most dominant family rotated through lynx spiders (stalker), Clubionidae (yellow night stalkers; which are foliage runners), Salticidae (jumping spiders, which are stalkers), Theridiidae (tangle web spiders, which are web builders), to Clubionidae.

The spider community sampled by pitfall traps was also influenced by seasonal changes, but this was less important than the BDI (or spraying regime) the field had received. This community was overwhelmingly dominated by Lycosidae (wolf spiders, which are ground runners) throughout the year. Exceptions were a few samples taken at the beginning of the season under low BDI where other families, such as Gnaphosidae, which is also a ground runner, nearly equaled wolf spiders in numbers. Most of these samples were from Katherine.

These results mean that spiders in cotton at different locations around Australia will have . Consequently, the incorporation of spiders more directly into IPM will need to be tailored for each location.

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