WATERpak provides technical information and practical advice to help irrigators improve irrigation practices, minimise environmental impacts and increase farm profits from irrigated cotton crops.

WATERpak brings together in one place the many years of irrigation research conducted by a variety of organisations in the Australian cotton and grains industries.

Two ambitious objectives were set out 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 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.

The RWUE3 team have successfully provided the cotton and grain irrigators with the necessary knowledge and skills to adopt and implement irrigation best practice on farm. This has in turn led to more efficient irrigation practices reflected in increased production per ML. The use of irrigation best management practices has enabled cotton and grain irrigators demonstrate their environmental credentials - something that will be further enhanced by the release and implementation of myBMP. This will also enable improved documentation of the extent of best practices within the industry.The RWUE3 team have continued to support the industry in achieving continued improvements in WUE. This is reflected in the 59 per cent improvement in IWUI within Queensland from 2002-03 to 2007-08. Data from the demonstration sites during RWUE3 show the significant improvements being obtained as a direct result of adopting irrigation best management practices promoted by RWUE3 staff - significant improvements in both GPWUI and IWUI are reported.Current industry performance is GPWUI = 1.13 bales/ML and IWUI = 1.58 bales/ML. Therefore the target of 15% of irrigators achieving an IWUI of 2 bales/ML remains aspirational. Achievement of a IWUI target of 2 bales/ML is only possible where irrigators have made significant investments in new irrigation infrastructure (as demonstrated by the IWUI values achieved for drip and overhead system irrigation in the RWUE3 demonstration sites, and by commercial irrigators using these systems). For surface irrigation systems a more realistic target of GPWUI = 1.39 bales/ML and IWUI = 1.5 bales/ML should be set. This appears achievable based on our current knowledge. It should also be remembered that there is significant variability in the IWUI figure driven by the seasonal conditions experienced from year to year. Other measures should also be considered - particularly those related to achieving the highest possible application efficiencies for all irrigation systems being used.

Final - Micro-bubbles - their contribution to cotton plant performance under a soil less culture medium

Darlington Point in 1964 and the CSIRO conducted a cotton breeding program for many years at Griffith. Cotton was the first row crop grown on Ravensworth Station at Hay and Kooba Station at Darlington Point. The cotton industry did not continue to expand mainly due to the lack of true short season varieties and seasonal rains during autumn which would have been detrimental for cotton harvest. Ironically it was George Commins who started growing maize replacing cotton as a row crop in the mid sixties at Kooba Station. George was the father of MIA cotton growers Roger and Tim Commins who have now grown cotton in the MIA for the past seven seasons.Cotton returned to Southern NSW in the mid eighties (1986/87 - 325ha) when it was grown at Hillston by the Maillor family who continue to grow cotton today. The growing of cotton was confined to the Lachlan River valley at Hillston and then expanded into the Murrumbidgee valley in 1999 with a trial area of 400ha at Twynam's property Gundaline Station, whilst also being trialled at Lake Marimley north of Balranald at the same time. Up until the last two years with the large increases in the Tabbita, Griffith, Whitton and Coleambally districts the maximum area for the southern region was approximately 16,000 ha in 2000/01.The largest area previously for the Murrumbidgee was 6700ha in 2003/04 yet all of this cotton was grown around Hay and not in the Murrumbidgee Area (MIA) nearer Griffith. This compared to approximately 6000ha for the Lachlan valley for the same season. This season (2011/12) due to increased river allocations and high prices the combined area for the Lachlan and the Murrumbidgee was 50,000ha

Resistance is one of the greatest threats to effective pest control in the Australian Cotton Industry, both against insecticides as well as transgenic cotton. For the primary pests of cotton, the cotton bollwonn Helicove1pa armigera and to a lesser extent H. punctigera, this threat could in the worst case result in loss of an important insecticide or loss in effectiveness of one or more Bt genes. It is important therefore that resistance monitoring, and associated mechanism research, is continued to detect the development of resistance and determine the mechanisms involved, in order that appropriate strategies are formulated accounting for this information and implemented before resistance is observed in the field in the form of control failures.

The 2004/05 cotton season saw the introduction of large scale Bollgard II plantings with minor restrictions on the total area that could be grown. Insecticides however have continued to be in demand for use against Helico1·erpa spp. on conventional cotton, and have been used on Bollgard II crops either targeting other insects such as mirids, using a chemical that also kills Helicoverpa spp. (eg endosulfan), or to control Helicoverpa spp. under conditions of high insect pressure and/or growing conditions that adversely affect Bt expression. Sprayed conventional cotton (non Bt) is still a popular cropping option as well as an important refuge option for Bollgard IL While Bollgard II may dominate total plantings, conventional cotton plantings represent a significant area that requires insecticidal control and protection against insecticide resistance.

The effects of significant plantings of Bollgard II and planting trends for the future are uncertain for the foreseeable future given such factors as economic constraints (eg low cotton prices and increased Bollgard II fee) and resistance issues associated with Bt toxins. Findings of Dr Robin Gunning of NSW DP!, as part of the CRDC funded project DAN I 72C (Gunning et al., 2005) identified an esterase mediated cross resistance in H. armigera between pyrethroids and the Cry1 Ac gene, one of the Bt genes expressed in Bollgard IL In addition, while accurate estimates of the frequency of resistance to Cry2Ab, the other Bt gene in Bollgard II, continue to be established, the CSIRO Bt resistance monitoring project has identified resistance associated genes in the field, with the data suggesting an increase in frequency in 2007/08 (Sharon Downes, pers comm.). Both these findings have serious implications for the control of I-I armigera in the field using both conventional chemistry and transgenic cotton, and emphasise the need to continue insecticide resistance monitoring and associated resistance mechanism research, both An insecticide resistance management strategy (IRMS) is implemented in the Australian Cotton Industry to protect insecticides. This strategy relies on resistance monitoring data and mechanism research as part of assessing the success of the strategy as well as formulating changes to account for resistance development that may be detected, and for occtmenee of cross resistance between different insecticides. This project aims to provide such data and any additional useful data from the monitoring program in the development of an effective strategy and guidelines for minimising the development of insecticide resistance.

In addition to resistance monitoring and mechanism research for chemicals currently registered for use on cotton, it is essential that new chemistries entering the industry have accurate dose-response data measured prior to their introduction. This accumulation of the baseline response allows for measurement of future changes and the detection of resistance development. Without this baseline data there is no means with which to detect resistance development until it is too late and field control problems or failures occur.

Winter grown cotton in the west Kimberley (near Broome) has produced exceptionally high yields (>10 bales/ha) and premium quality fibre. Crops are irrigated daily, according to a formula based on &quote;crop factors&quote; and daily evaporation. However, the crop factors are estimates derived from other areas and may not represent efficient water use. Generally, crops near Broome have required 9 ML/ha applied water compared to about 6 ML/ha for similarly grown crops on drip irrigation at Katherine (NT). There is a clear need to accurately define the irrigation requirements of Bollgard II® cotton grown in a winter production system in the west Kimberley.

Diminishing water supply, changing weather patterns and pressure to enhance environmental flows are making it imperative to optimise water use efficiency (WUE) on cotton/grain farming systems. Growers are looking for better strategies to make the best use of limited water, but it is still not clear how to best use the available water at farm and field scale. This research project investigated the impact of management strategies to deal with limited water supplies on the yield and quality of irrigated cotton and wheat. The objectives were: (1) to develop irrigation management guidelines for the main irrigated crops on the Darling Downs for full- and deficitirrigation scenarios, taking into account the critical factors that affect irrigation decisions at the local level, (2) to quantify the evapotranspiration (ET) of Bollgard II cotton and wheat and its relationship to yield and quality under full- and deficit-irrigation scenarios, and (3) to increase industry awareness and education of farming systems practises for optimised economic water use efficiency.Objective (1) was addressed by (A) collaborating with ASPRU to develop the APSFarm model within APSIM to be able to perform multi-paddock simulations. APSFarm was then tested by conducting a case study at a farm near Dalby, and (B) conducting semi-structured interviews with individual farmers and crop consultants on the Darling Downs to document the strategies they are using to deal with limited water. Objective (2) was addressed by (A) building and installing 12 large (1 m x 1m x 1.5 m) weighing lysimeters to measure crop evapotranspiration. The lysimeters were installed at the Agri-Science Queensland research station at Kingsthorpe in November 2008, (B) conducting field experiments to measure crop evapotranspiration and crop development under four irrigation treatments, including dryland, deficit-irrigation, and full irrigation. Field experiments were conducted with cotton in 2007-08 and 2008-09, and with wheat in 2008 and 2009, and (C) collaborating with USQ on a PhD thesis to quantify the impact of crop stress on crop evapotranspiration and canopy temperature. Glasshouse experiments were conducted with wheat in 2008 and with cotton in 2008-09. Objective (3) was addressed by (A) conducting a field day at Kingsthorpe in 2009, which was attended by 80 participants, (B) presenting information in conferences in Australia and overseas, (D) presenting information at farmers meeting, (E) making presentations to crop consultants, and (F) preparing extension publications.As part of this project we contributed to the development of APSfarm, which has been successfully applied to evaluate the feasibility of practices at the whole-farm scale. From growers and crop consultants interviews we learned that there is a great variety of strategies, at different scales, that they are using to deal with limited water situation. These strategies will be summarised in the &quote;Limited Water Guidelines for the Darling Downs&quote; that we are currently preparing. As a result of this project, we now have a state-of-the-art lysimeter research facility (23 large weighing lysimeters) to be able to conduct replicated experiments to investigate daily water use of a variety of crops under different irrigation regimes and under different environments. Under this project, a series of field and glasshouse experiments were conducted with cotton and wheat, investigating aspects like: (A) quantification of daily and seasonal crop water use under nonstressed and stressed conditions, (B) impact of row configuration on crop water use, (C) impact of water stress on yield, evapotranspiration, crop vegetative and reproductive development, soil water extraction pattern, yield and yield quality. The information obtained from this project is now being used to develop web-based tools to help growers make planning and day-to-day irrigation decisions.

Final Report - Temperature time thresholds for irrigation scheduling in drip and deficit furrow irrigated cotton

Final Report - Hydrological and geophysical characterisation of palaeochannels in northern NSW