The cotton industry Development and Delivery (D&D) Team will have a significant presence on the ground at the Australian Cotton Trade Show on May 29 and 30 in Moree. The team will also be coordinating the Industry Forums at the event.

Accurate identification is important for the management of all weed species for a range of different reasons including the selection of effective herbicides and implementing timely management before seed set so that problems are not increased in future years' The species known as bladder ketmia (Hibiscus trionum) is extremely variable in Australia with at least three weedy types occurring. This study assessed the variation within and between these types in a range of field and glasshouse studies.

High adoption rates of genetically modified, insecticidal Bt cotton lead to regional changes inpest management practice with potential consequences for populations of the mainlepidopteran pest, Helicoverpa spp., and natural enemies in Bt cotton and neighbouring crops.To test the hypothesis that Bt cotton functions as a sink and other crops as potential sourcesfor Helicoverpa spp., we determined Helicoverpa spp. egg densities in 24 Bt cotton fields inthree landscapes in the Darling Downs, QLD, Australia. Egg densities peaked in January2010, when cotton started flowering, and decreased afterwards, except in one landscape,where a second peak was observed at the end of February. In this landscape, rainfall allowedplanting of large areas of sorghum early in the season. Consequently, the late season peak islikely to be a result of third generation moths recruited from sorghum. In the two otherlandscapes, non-cotton crops were planted later in the season or not at all. While H.punctigera dominated the samples early in the season, H. armigera was most frequent inJanuary, but H. punctigera populations increased again towards the end of the season. To testthe hypothesis that natural enemies of Helicoverpa spp. eggs remain unaffected by Bt cotton,we followed parasitization rates of field collected and sentinel Helicoverpa spp. eggs andpredation rates of sentinel eggs. Egg parasitoids were not found before January, but 40-80%of the field collected eggs were parasitized thereafter. Parasitoids were clearly dominated byTrichogrammatidae. From our samples, there was no indication that Bt cotton affected eggparasitoids or predators. The project is continuing in the field season 2010/11 with Australianfunding from Cotton CRC and GRDC. Data will be collected in a similar way and moredetailed analyses will be conducted with the complete data set.

The project aimed to develop an analysis framework to quantify groundwater / surface water interactions, and identify and quantify the factors which influence groundwater / surface water interaction.

There are many critical issues facing the cotton industry, ranging from drought and water supply; yield and profitability; fibre quality and export price; nutrition; sustainability-catchment management, and BMP implementation. To assist these issues this project sought to investigate linkages between research, future decision support, and BMP. Sandra Deutscher, a specialist in providing linkages between research and extension worked with key industry working groups scoping opportunities and identify future investment that will facilitate possible linkages. Additionally CSIRO's cotton Decision Support group based in Narrabri was discontinued because of an increased industry focus on BMP and lack of funding as a result of the drought. The DSS group ceased on 30 June 2007. This new project provided funding for one software developer to maintain the CSIRO/Cotton CRC web decision support tools while a new strategy for decision support is developed that may compliment BMP implementation and uptake. This project also provided important technical supervision needed to continue the CRC/Telstra project &#39New generation scouting tools&#39./

Under limited water scenarios HydroLOGIC was able to optimise yield.- Irrigation application efficiencies were estimated to be near the industry average of 60 percent-Combining soil moisture probe information with HydroLOGIC predictions gave reliable assessments of crop growth, response to moisture stress and final yield.

Summer Scholarship Report - Diurnal movement of mirids in response to lynx spiders

The project was designed to increase the adoption of natural resource management best practice on farm, through working collaboratively with Regional NRM Bodies to achieve on ground change and develop regionally specific resources to improve the NRM skills and knowledge of growers.l

This research project involved the development and application of crop simulation tools to assist with crop management within the cotton industry. These tools allow risk assessments to be made about crop management decisions, which when combined with on-farm experience aims to maximise crop potential. In addition, by providing extension and research staff and other industry personnel with a simulation capacity through the project, the benefits to industry will be more widespread and gain greater exposure. Irrigated and dryland growers involved during this project have benefited from information generated by simulation technology and refined their crop management strategies. This project had several objectives in the application of crop simulation to the cotton industry.

Exploration of on-farm crop management scenarios using simulation in dryland and irrigated crop production.

One of the keys to developing software tools that generate information that growers and consulstants value, and have a true impact on crop management, has been through collaborative research on-farm. Linking soil sampling, soil characterisation for water holding capacity and the output from OZCOT has been shown to maximise yield potential under a range of growing conditions and seasons. Research in 2001-02 demonstrated the general principles required for modelling in-season for decision making, whilst subsquent research facilitated the development of a focussed tool for irrigation scheduling and water related decision making.

Provision of support to extension staff, researchers and industry personnel in the use of the ‘user-friendly’ OZCOT.

Providing support to industry staff using and related tools has been important to the uptake of these tools and promotion of simulation in cotton. This has involved training in ‘how to drive’ the software and how to interpret the information generated by these tools. This support has been achieved through training workshops held in each cotton growing valley for growers and consultants, and more focssued training for extension staff. Using OZCOT and HydroLOGIC, extension and industry staff have compared topics such as fruiting potential, yield potential under reduced water allocations and strategies to maximize available water.

Maintenance of a simulation capacity and skills within the CRC and cotton industry to enable growers and industry representative to access this technology.

The ability to generate complex crop potential information over a wide number of locations and crop management scenarios has been an important part of this projects success. This capacity has allowed investigation of issues such as sowing date, dryland potential, row spacing, water allocation, and irrigation scheduling. It has involved the application and evaluation of simulation in new areas and novel crop management strategies such as skip-row planted irrigated cotton. Focussed workshops have been conducted on the physiological response of cotton to water stress, the impact of reduced allocations, the implications of timing the first irrigation, and understanding the impact of stretching irrigation deficits during different crop stages.

Training in the to provide a proven framework for adoption.

Research conducted on-farm with growers and consultants allowed the investigation of local crop management issues in greater detail. This objective focussed on providing the appropriate training for this applied research, and methods for extension of information and tools to the cotton industry. Accreditation also aimed to maintain the credibility of the project officer as a trainer for OZCOT and related software. Since enrolling in the accreditation program in July 2001, numerous workshops were attended to assist with the accreditation process. Stage 1 of the scheme was finished in June 2001, and stage 2 was completed in June 2004.

On farm water quality monitoring - protocol and log book