Discussions with any number of people in the cotton industry will indicate that the move towards integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been one of the most significant changes in the industry in recent years, As a pest management strategy that utilises a range of tools to achieve economic, environmental and sustainable management of pests, IPM has been essential for an industry facing significant public pressure as well as the need to economically manage pests that have shown an increasing resistance to conventional insecticides. The use of crop checking and thresholds is an IPM tool that has been used by the industry for many years, Significant effort in research, development, extension and agronomic advice is refining and improving other elements of IPM programs, particularly for the management of insect pests. With this in mind, how does the industry as a whole view IPM?

In the last 5 years there has been a dramatic and exciting shift in pest management approaches in Australian cotton, away from reliance on broad-spectrum insecticides as the main line of defence against pests, toward a more integrated pest management (IPM) based approach. This change has had a number of drivers, some positive, such as the advent of INGARD varieties which have reduce insecticide inputs by 40-60% making IPM more achievable, some negative, such as increased costs of pest control($400 to $1000/ha), increased insecticide resistance and environmental concerns due to off-target drift (Wilson, 2000). IPM was born in the heady days following the development and release of the early synthetic insecticides in response to just these types of problems. Insecticides dramatically increased the productivity of many agricultural and horticultural crops. However, problems with insecticide resistance, primary pest resurgence and secondary pest outbreaks due to destruction of beneficial insects, human health and environmental pollution soon become apparent (Stern et al. 1959). The aim of IPM systems therefore is to minimise the use of synthetic insecticides, to reduce the problems above, yet maintain profitability.

The number of methods of marketing open to Australian cotton growers has increased in recent years, providing growers with an opportunity to better manage financial risk. In particular, processing and marketing organisations now administer hedging strategies involving the use of futures markets. The main alternative marketing methods , including strategies using futures, have been simulated for the years from 1973-74 to 1987-88 in an attempt to quantify the levels of recurin and risk that they provide. It is concluded that the partial hedging strategies now available provide an opportunity to manage financial risk, albeit at a slight cost

Malvaceae weeds are becoming an increasingly significant problem in Australian cotton farming systems. Narrow and wide leafbladder ketmia, Hibiscus trionum var. trionum and and Hibiscus trionum var. vesicarius respectively, have been found on 85% of all cotton fields surveyed. Anoda weed (Anoda cristata) has become widespread in many Queensland (Qld) cotton growing areas and continues to spread into New South Wales (NSW), while velvetleaf or Swamp Chinese lantern (Abutilon theophrasti) is thought to be currently isolated to small areas of northern NSW. This paper examines the distribution and potential spread of each of these species, and contains some photographs to enhance identification. Species-specific control of these weeds is difficult to achieve because of their genetic, physiological and phenological similarities to cotton. This paper also outlines the &quote;Best Bet&quote; Management options for these weeds, sourced from a series of grower, on-farm agronomist and consultant interviews. This information has been published in WEEDpak.

Cotton-trash and feedlot-manure has been processed by composting worms over three months to produce vermicompost, an organic residue reputed to improve soil conditions for plant growth. A paddock-scale trial has been established to evaluate the effects of these worm-worked organic wastes on cotton production

The weed spectrum of many areas in the Australian cotton industry is not well documented. in addition, there is very little information known about the weed species present in the Hillston area and which of these weeds will present a problem to the expansion of cotton growing in the area. To address some of these issues, a weed survey was undertaken on three farms in the Hillston area on November 21 and 22 - 2001, just prior to first cultivation of many of the fields. The fields surveyed covered a range of production systems including conventional cotton, Roundup Ready cotton on two metre beds, twin row conventional cotton planted on two metre beds, and Roundup Ready' cotton planted on UNR beds. Assessments were conducted along transects from the tail ditch to the head ditch and weeds assessed in both rows and furrows on a number of transects (the actual number was dependent on the field size).

When breeders cross two cotton varieties together there are millions of potential new combinations of genes that are generated in the progeny from the two parent plants. The breeders must then select from amongst these those few combinations that give an improvement in varietal performance (eg. yield, fibre quality, disease tolerance). In many cases this requires the assessment of many thousands of lines in small evaluation plots over multiple seasons to come up with those elite performers that are then evaluated in large scale variety trials and a selection of which will become a new variety. Any new tool that will help the breeder follow useful agronomic characteristics through a breeding population and reduce the number of lines that need to be evaluated in the field will increase the efficiency and speed with which new varieties can be developed. DNA or molecular markers are one such tool that is now being used widely for fundamental genetic studies in plant biology, but increasingly in commercial and institutional breeding programs for crops, such as maize and wheat (where incremental advances in yield have become difficult to achieve by conventional strategies). DNA markers have yet to have any major impact on cotton breeding.

The aim of the project was to test the feasibility of using DNA probes to enumerate microorganisms involved in the degradation .of herbicides in soil. The ultimate goal of this approach was to use such data to predict the herbicide degradation potential of agricultural soils which could form p art of an overall herbicide application strategy for a wide variety of cropping systems.

Glyphosate is the single most commonly used herbicide applied through shielded sprayers for controlling Post emergent weeds. A number of weeds are becoming tolerant to Glyphosate, forcing farmers to increase rates in order to achieve acceptable commercial control. Using higher rates of Glyphosate increases the risk of crop damage and subsequent yield loss when drift occurs. A number of alternative herbicides were evaluated to determine the potential for their use through shielded sprayers. We evaluated weed efficacy and crop safety for cotton

This project derived from a previous Australian Cotton CRC project, &quote;Plant-based attractants for Helicoverpa moths and sucking pests of cotton&quote; (Project 2.2.9). It investigated ways in which the behaviour of Helicoverpa spp. and the sucking pests, the green mirids, can be manipulated in a cotton landscape which includes transgenic and conventional cotton, refuges for resistance management, beneficial nurseries and non-crop vegetation. The project generally aimed to develop plant-based attractants or repellents for cotton pests, including further refining and commercialising our current product, Magnet®. Specific objectives were: (1) to develop field bioassay methods for mirids, (2) identify plant volatiles attractive to mirids, (3) investigate potential for mating disruption and attract-an-kill using mirid pheromones, (4) identify plant volatiles which attract or repel key beneficial insects, (5) develop formulations with slow-release and rain fastness, (6) to investigate the potential of using Magnet® to enhance refuges for transgenic cotton.This work showed that mirids are nocturnal in their host-finding (response to plant volatiles) and mate-finding (response to pheromone traps) behaviours. Field olfactometer bioassays using fresh lucerne bouquets, hexane washings and synthetic equivalents of volatiles collected from lucerne were done to evaluate potential plant volatiles as attractants or repellents for mirids. Lucerne bouquets were significantly attractive to female mirids but only two chemicals appeared to be attractive and two were repellents to mirids. Combining volatiles into blends did not increase attractiveness to mirids. A technique to improve longevity of mirid pheromone in the field was developed which involved coating the rubber septa with araldite glue but leaving the tip of the septa uncoated. In collaboration with CRC extension officers and researchers, pheromone trapping trials were conducted at 8 locations in NSW and Qld to evaluate the usefulness of pheromone traps for monitoring mirid populations. Results suggested that population dynamics of mirids were different between locations. Pheromone catches were significantly correlated with field mirids at some sites, whilst such correlation was poor at other sites. In some cases, pheromone traps appeared to catch male mirids only when female mirids in the field were mostly mated, suggesting that the effectiveness of pheromone traps might be influenced by the &quote;female competition&quote; effect in the field. Results from this work suggest that pheromone traps on their own may not be reliable monitoring tools, but may be valuable in providing a better understanding of the population dynamics and mirid ecology in general. Mating disruption using mirid pheromones might be feasible provided a method for slow release of pheromone is developed. A regulatory difficulty was encountered with one of the volatile components of the Magnet® formulation and we decided to replace this component with two others, to avoid the need for expensive toxicological research. Many trials of potential alternatives were conducted, and these resulted in the development of a new Magnet® formulation which was at least as attractive as the old one to Helicoverpa spp., and less attractive to beneficial insects. Registration of this new formulation is imminent, and we have conducted trials on its attractiveness on a range of other species in the USA, New Zealand and south east Asia, as well as on applications for improving resistance management for transgenic cotton in Australia.