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 sensorThe 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 sensorDuring 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.

The Cotton CRC, Namoi CMA and cotton growers contributed in excess of$2 million to achieve significant NRM on-ground outcomes in line with the Namoi CMA Catchment Action Plan. the contributions from cotton growers account for over half of this

Final Report Community action fund boys on the move

The hydrogeology of the Lachlan Catchment has been studied by numerous authors over the past 40 years, but there are still many gaps in our understanding of the groundwater systems and river-aquifer interactions. These shortfalls in our knowledge limit our capacity to manage water resources throughout the catchment. This document captures our current understanding of the hydrogeology of the catchment and provides a multidimensional spatial analysis of the groundwater monitoring bore standing water level (SWL) data. Based on the findings, recommendations for further research are presented

This report outlines the results of surveys conducted by Cotton Consultants Australia (CCA) of their membership and cotton growers from across the production valleys in eastern Australia.

Black root rot is a recognised threat to the cotton industry, yet current management strategies are insufficient for disease control. Thus, further research is required in order to develop new strategies to reduce the impact of the disease on the cotton industry. To achieve this, we must first gain understanding of the steps crucial for completing the life cycle of the pathogen, T. basicola, to be able to control the disease in a sustainable manner, i.e. with reduced input, increased profit and reduced negative environmental impact.Understanding the interactions between the pathogen and the plant requires a multidiscipline study involving collaborations among scientists expert in research fields such as microbiology, plant biology, soil biology, fungal genetics, molecular biology and agronomy. It is extremely important to train and educate students in these fields towards understanding plant disease and its management.The summer student Ms Anna Balzer, got intensive training in molecular biology and microbiology, particularly in handling the fungal pathogen T. basicola, and in conducting pathogenicity assays to assess black root rot in cotton. She also conducted assays to examine pathogenicity-related properties in T. basicola, to further our understanding of factors involved in its virulence towards plants. One of the highlights from the results is the optimisation of a minimal growth medium for the fungus, which will facilitate further studies of pathogenicity related traits of T. basicola.

The Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre (Cotton CRC) has commissioned this review of extension services in the Darling Downs and Border Rivers Regions to better understand the needs of mixed enterprises (cotton, grain, grazing) related to resilient farming, to identify opportunities for farming system collaboration, and to assess the need for specialist extension services.

This project collected and collated soil and other geospatial data into a common location andprojection to provide a GIS for the Namoi Catchment Management Authority (CMA) to provideinformation for land management within the Namoi Catchment. Soil information was successfullyobtained from a number of disparate sources: individuals, government departments and researchorganisations or institutions. Unfortunately it was not possible to collate all known soil data for thecatchment as some data were not made publicly available. The geospatial data obtained from varioussources, and derived as part of this project, were successfully brought into a common projection and aGIS provided to the Namoi CMA. This GIS will be useful in planning future field work to target areaswithout sufficient coverage currently as well as providing a source of information for the CMA andother stakeholders in the catchment.

Final Report Mapping available soil moisture content in an irrigated cotton growing field in the lower Gwydir Valley

This project aimed to find a suitable tool to assist growers assess vegetation condition. The desktop review of assessment tools, found most to be very technical, requiring a high level of vegetation knowledge and would be very time consuming. For these reasons they were not considered useful as general landholder tools. It was, however, determined that aspects of some tools could be combined to generate a simpler tool. This was not able to be tested in the field as Robyn McAlpine was unable to continue with the project.