The objective of this project was to look at economic optimisation within the SIRATAC framework.

Aims: *Use data which relates mite numbers to yield loss in order to derive and test action thresholds. * Finalise the development of a sampling technique in association with action thresholds and include both into SIRATAC. * Initiate developmental studies to determine the effects of temperature, humidity and host plant quality and variety on the rate of development of mite populations. * Continue studies of the abundance of mites on weeds and sources of infestation into cotton.

To quantify movement of Heliothis adults Into cotton crops from local and distant source regions. To estimate the migratory capacity of Heliothis in a form which can be Incorporated into regional population models and other decision-support systems for managing Heliothiss populations and their resistance to insecticides

Aims: (i) to quantify the contribution of alternative host crops to the dynamics of Heliothis on cotton using an elemental analysis technique developed in a previous project. (ii) to study the colonisation of cotton crops by adults and subsequent development of populations using night vision devices, pheromone and light traps and direct sampling techniques. (iii) to quantify the catch efficiency of pheromone traps and factors affecting efficiency in cotton at different times of the season. (iv) to study patterns of local movement from discrete source crops, using mark-recapture, elemental analysis, night vision devices and trapping systems

To provide adequate access to computing facilities for SIRATAC, Trichogramma and Heliothis Ecology/Modelling projects at the Toowoomba Laboratory

The main aim of this trip was to report to the international scientific community on the progress of the Insecticide Resistance Management St(ategy that has been implemented in Australia to contain pyrethroid and endosulfan resistance. Two papers were presented on aspects of this research: a) Pyrethroid and endosulfan resistance in Heliothis armigera in Australia - 6 years experience with a management strategy. b) Countermeasures for mfo mediated pyrethroid resistance in Heliothis armigera in Australia. 0 After the conference, a short field trip was undertaken to gauge the extent of the insecticide resistance problem in Heliothis and Plutella in Thailand

Weather prediction has been gradually improving over the last decade or so, with several factors contributing to the improvement. The two main contributors have been the advent, refining and increased frequency of satellite photography, and secondly the improvement in the mathematical simulation of the atmosphere's motion. Both these improvements have been incorporated into the Bureau of Meteorology's &quote;Cottonfields&quote; service, which routinely presents up to date satellite photographs and output from numerical weather models as part of the service. &quote;Cottonfields&quote; is accessed through a fax machine interface by potting a regularly updated databank, and during the period when the cotton is in the ground, up to 1500 calls a week are received. One of the man intentions of the service is to enable growers to improve their water management strategies, and to assist in this, rainfall predictions out to 4 days ahead are issued.

One approach in the drive by the cotton industry to introduce more effective and more sustainable methods of bollworm control than are presently available, has been to develop a new generation of insecticides based on naturally occurring insect pathogens such as the nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPVs). From an environmental standpoint, these bio control agents have the advantage of a much narrower target range, leave no toxic residues, and have no adverse effects on human or animal health. Although NPVs have been applied as insecticides since the 1940's, the relatively long time it takes to kill the insect target (often several days) has generally limited their use to low value, mostly perennial cropping systems eg forest plantations. This is no longer the case. With the advent of genetic engineering technologies in the late 1980's, has come the opportunity to significantly enhance their speed of kill&quote;'. As a consequence both the type of insect pests which can be controlled and the cropping systems which can be targeted have now broadened. In 1988, CSIRO's Division of Entomology initiated a programme to genetically modify an Australian NPV isolated, from the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (HaNPV)for increased speed of kill (see Christian & Richards in these proceedings).

Salinity problems are due to the presence of a high concentration of soluble salts in soils or waters. Salinity processes are natural processes closely linked with landscape and soil formation processes,however, human activities such as agricultural development can accelerate salinity processes,contributing to long-term land and water degradation.

Concerns about the increase in resistance towards synthetic chemical insecticides in the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, led the Australian cotton industry to adopt new pest management ideas. The introduction of INGARD' cotton containing a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) which expresses the Cry1Ac toxin is one such idea. This transgenic cotton will be followed up with another, BOLLGARD II, which produces two Bt toxins, Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab. A major element of the introduction of transgenic plant technology will be to manage the risk of H. armigera becoming resistant to these insecticidal proteins.