The silverleaf whitefly (SLW) Bemisia tabaci B-biotype is a major problem to cotton growers overseas and is a threat to the cotton industry in Australia. It is currently established in plant nurseries in most states and is a pest of various horticultural crops in the field in North Queensland. The genetically modified INGARD cotton contains a Bt gene which codes for an endotoxin that is active against major lepidopteran pests such as Helicoverpa spp. Bt cotton has been trailed in Australia over the last few years with some positive results (D. Murray pers. comm. ). However, the key to the success of transgenic cotton will be to integrate it with other management strategies, such as crop refuges, in an effort to slow resistance development (Fitt 1996). Pigeon pea is highly preferred by Helicoverpa spp. and is being used as a refuge or trap crop (Walker et al 1998). Lucerne is also being investigated as a refuge or breeding ground for beneficial insects (Mensah & Singleton 1998; Walker et al 1998), such as predators or parasites of Helicoverpa spp. Sowthistle, a common weed in cotton agro ecosystems, may also act as a refuge for beneficial insects or for the pests themselves. Cotton and lucerne are both hosts of the SLW overseas. These and other plants in the cotton agro ecosystem may become important hosts in Australia. This project assessed the suitability of these key hosts to SLW development.

Water use efficiency is a key issue for the Australian cotton industry. For the individual producer the focus is to maximise returns from a limited resource. However, the current debate on allocation of water between domestic, agricultural and environmental sectors, imposes additional significance to water use efficiency at the industry level. We are conducting a project that focuses on crop water use efficiency as a component of whole farm water use efficiency. This will be achieved by (i) identifying the current sources of variation in crop water use efficiency between production units and (ii) quantifying the contribution of rotation and tillage practices to the water use efficiency of irrigated or partially irrigated cotton crops. The aims are three fold

The future of agriculture in Australia depends on the type of people who are in the cotton industry. The future depends on a professional & aggressive approach to the business of farming, prepared for change. Looking to the future with a positive attitude. The political landscape has changed dramatically in the last couple of months so that Rural Australia has been put back on the agenda. The Queensland election has cleared the way, for politicians to respond to the requirements of agriculture and that is an opportunity for cotton farmers to show the way. We must take that Opportunity and get involved.

This paper describes the results of a two season pilot study assessing the utility of Landsat TM satellite data for identifying and mapping land cover in jinxed agricultural regions. In order to effectively understand, model and forecast Helicoverpa population dynamics within a mixed agricultural region it is essential to have information on the spatial and temporal distribution of the various crops and weeds on which the pests develop. Host plants are an essential resource for Helicoverpa moths and their developing eggs, larvae and pupae. The distribution, type and growth stage of cultivated and wild host plants affect the regional population dynamics of Helicoverpa in three major ways

Experiments were done using simulated damage to investigate responses of early season cotton to defoliation, tipping out and fruit removal in a range of combinations and intensities. Pre-squaring cotton was very tolerant of relatively high levels of tip damage, even when combined with other forms of damage such as defoliation of fruit removal. Heavy early fruit loss did not affect yield but caused a delay in maturity of about seven days. The yield of pre-squaring cotton was unaffected by defoliation, even when 100% of true leaves were removed on three occasions. Pre-squaring cotton was tolerant of defoliation levels of up to 80% loss of true leaf area without affecting maturity. The capacity of cotton to recover from early damage has important implications for developing IPM systems.

The apple dimpling bug (ADB), Campylomma liebknechti (Girault) is a sucking insect, indigenous to Australia which occurs in all cotton growing area. Bishop (1980) and Chinajariyawong and Water (1990)reported that ADB is a pest as well as a predator of Heliothis eggs in cotton. ADB is also considered a predator of two spotted mites in cotton (Wilson et al. 1998). Currently there are mixed conceptions within the cotton industry about the status of ADB; whether it is a pest or a beneficial insect. Some growers and consultants consider ADB as a pest in the same category as the green mirid and recommend insecticide sprays against it if numbers are over the current entomoLOGIC threshold. Some growers and consultants do not classify ADB as a pest or as a beneficial insect, but will control it with synthetic insecticides if populations are high, plants are being tipped out or pin squares are being lost and other pests like green Thirds or thrips are absent. Thus the cotton industry's mixed attitude towards ADB, in contrast to the green mirids, shows there is a substantial gap in our knowledge of the true status of this insect. Detailed study of the basic biology, behaviour, pest status and population dynamics of ADB is required so that appropriate control measures can be identified to manage them. In this paper we present some of the results of our recent research on ADB, particularly some aspects of the pest status, lifecycle, sampling and diurnal activities. In addition, we will report on the different species of apple dimpling bug found in the cotton growing areas in NSW

On May 20 19/8, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that there has been a very large increase in the area of cotton production in Queensland with cotton for ginning increasing from 15 tons in 19/7 to 55 tons in 19/8. In the year 1995/96 the value of cotton produced in Australia was $665 million and generated a further $2 billion to $35 billion in downstream processing and service industries. 809100f the cotton in 1995/96 was grown by irrigation. Australia is the driest settled continent. Periods of drought and flood are common features of a climate which is extremely variable and extremely unpredictable. The Royal Society of NSW has recorded that when the explorer Charles Sturt came to the Darling River in 1829 &quote;found the water was too salt to drink and that the water level was so low that they were able to walk over to the other side. &quote; Against this harsh setting the people of inland NSW have had to survive. History demonstrates that water storage construction has followed droughts and river flow failure attended by socio-economic stress which can be readily visualised

Historically research has shown cotton to be highly susceptible to the phenoxy herbicides. However, there is limited information on the impacts of other herbicides that may be used within current fanning systems. Every season there are reported cases of suspected herbicide damage over the summer period. Damage is primarily caused by physical drift of herbicides used for roadside weed control, or summer fallow weed management. The drift associated with fallow management can be from within or outside the farm boundary. Irrespective of where the damage originates, there are always two questions that the grower asks. &quote;What has caused this damage&quote; and &quote;will the crop recover&quote;? It was this scenario that promoted the establishment of this research. This paper examines the impacts of herbicides commonly used for fallow weed control on cotton growth and yield.

The major focus of the Australian cotton industry for pest management is to reduce the dependence on synthetic insecticides. However, despite widespread use of economic thresholds and the so called &quote;soft option&quote; IPM in the current production systems, only limited progress has been made to achieving this goal. Little emphasis has been placed on beneficial insects and since 1992, we have been funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) to develop an IPM strategy which places much more emphasis on natural enemies of the cotton pests particularly Helicoverpa spp. in order to reduce the cotton industry's dependence on synthetic insecticides. The project has developed Envirofeast (food) spray product and lucerne refugia technologies to conserve and enhance the activities of natural enemies in cotton systems. The Envirofeast product when applied to cotton crops attracts and conserve the natural enemies. The lucerne crop when interplanted in cotton as strips serves as a refuge for the natural enemies (Mensah and Harris, 1995, 1996; Mensah, 1998, 1997) and sink for another cotton pest, the green mind (Mensah and Khan, 1997). The total IPM package is being evaluated by Rhone-Poulenc Rural (Australia) Pty Ltd prior to commercialisation. We report here stages 6 and 7 of the program where we compared pest, natural enemy populations and also the yield of normal and transgenic cotton crops managed with Envirofeast IPM to those managed with conventional synthetic insecticides under the Insecticide Resistance Management strategy for 1996/97 and 1997/98 seasons.

The term &quote;equity&quote; in the context of natural resource management refers to a sense of fairness in the allocation of the resource to users' Fairness in the meaning that the spectrum of resource users are treated in the same manner. To achieve equity in natural resource systems like water, where there is a changing community perception overtime as to how the resource should be allocated, the use of principles of justice to supplement law may be appropriate.