As low densities of heliothis may survive on Bt transgenic plants late in the season, a specific late season control for heliothis is valuable to reduce the survival of individuals resistant to Bt toxin. Late season survivors could provide a pathway to carry resistance into the next season's first heliothis generation. Broad spectrum insecticides could target these late season heliothis, but also disrupt beneficial insects that can control minor pests at his time. Transgenic cotton is being promoted as an environmentally friendly crop and late season heliothis sprays detract from this image.

The convention organised by WTAA was held between the 17th and 19th of

November at the Melbourne Town Hall. Around 380 delegates took part in the 3 day

event. The convention was held to acknowledge the vital contribution of regional and

rural women to all aspects of industry and business, and support and develop the flow

of women into leadership roles.

There was a networking opportunity held on the 17th with opening drinks which saw

a lot of ladies mingling and networking. Ladies seem to have came from all walks of

life and from around the whole of Australia. All states were will represented which

added diversity and a great networking challenge for me personally. It was great to

meet so many positive women and I was glad that I had made the effort to encourage

other women from my region to attend this convention.

It was an excellent opportunity for catching up with other women from the cotton

industry as well. I feel that I have stronger ties with the women around the Northern

growing regions of NSW from attending this convention.

The two-day event incorporated a range of topics, including nutrition and lifestyle,

best practice models for networking, and developing and operating a successful

regional business. Speakers were sourced from a range of industries, such as

agriculture, local government, media, small business and politics, and came from as

far afield as Mungindi, Antarctica, Sunshine Coast and Tasmania.

It is no doubt BMP is the next major challenge facing the cotton industry. We are under increasing scrutiny from governments, their departments and our own communities. Particularly on chemical use and drum disposal, water, farm design, and occupational health and safety. This is an opportunity to answer our critics and to demonstrate to governments we are doing the right thing. BMP will assist us to control our own destiny. I is becoming increasingly difficult to comply with a barrage of regulatory paper work. We need to do it on our terms, where there are real tangible benefits.

Northern Australia, that is Australia north of 200s, is two regions with respect to crop production: (1) the Queensland coast (except Cape York) and adjacent hinterland, (2) the remainder. (1). The Queensland coast and hinterland has successfully sustained the production of sugar and tobacco for over 100 years and is closest to the major population centres of southern Australia. This region has seen the development of dams to supply the Mareeba and lower Burdekin areas, and there has been a steady diversification into horticulture, aquiculture, dairy and other crops. The success of tobacco since the 1940's is of interest because it required recognition of the ecological limitations of the natural environment and production changed from rain fed driving the wet season to irrigated daring the dry season. (2). The remainder of the Australian tropics is largely undeveloped for cropping or intensive animal production and prior to 1990 had a miserable record of failed developments. The production of cotton at the Ord during the 1960's and 1970's was a unique success in broad acre agriculture in this region until1974 when insect pests became uncontrollable, ie. &quote;heliothis went boo and we all run away&quote; Hearn (1996).

There is a substantial number of cotton growers who have an active role in and take full responsibility for the pest management of their crop. The : Have strong knowledge of and commitment to industry strategies and goals, Know and understand the general principles of pest management in cotton and other crops, Directly manage and supervise pesticide application. Conversely, there are many more who give their consultant full responsibility for the pest management and do not provide that consultant with guidelines as to their expectations of crop performance in terms of insect pests or of their attitude to industry strategies.

The Australian Cotton CRC extension team conducted the second cotton industry benchmarking study during the 2000/01 season. It was implemented as a follow up to the 1997 survey that focussed on the 1996/97 season to measure changes in industry practice during the four-year period and to identify current issues for research, development and extension. This paper provides a broad overview of the survey results. The extension team focus groups will be undertaking detailed analyses of data with respect to specific aspects including agronomy and fanning systems and the management of weeds, water, insects, diseases and spray application. The information derived from the data is of substantial value when used in the identification, prioritisation and planning of research, development and extension programs.

There is speculation that current secondary pests of cotton may be more troublesome following the introduction of transgenic cotton. There is concern that increased sprays targeted at the secondary pests, such as cotton aphid, may exacerbate resistance. To quantity resistance in cotton aphid eleven strains were collected from Qld, NSW, NT and WA and tested. Carbamate and organophosphate resistance was detected in strains from Qld, NT and WA but not NSW. Profenofos resistance was low (max. 4.7x), omethoate resistance high (max. 42.1x) and pinnxicarb resistance extreme (max. 1,736x). Low level endosulfan (max. 1.4x), and pyrethroid resistance (max. 4.1x esfenvalerate) was detected in one NSW strain. The implications of the findings of this continuing study are discussed.

Historically, the wild Australian Gossypium species have played a minor role in cotton breeding. Before 1980, this was mostly due to the rarity of material in germplasm collections, which contained only the commonest species (e.g., G. australe & G. sturtianum). A series of collecting expeditions in the 1980s addressed this situation, and the CSIRO Gossypium germplasm collection now contains accessions of every known species. This presents the opportunity to use all the Gossypium species that evolved in Australia to develop better Australian cotton cultivars. This article summarises ongoing work to develop strategies to overcome the extensive crossing barriers that preclude exchange of genetic material between the wild Australian Gossypium species and the cultivated cottons in nature.

Sustainability in any farming system is dependent upon a number of interacting factors which include climate, soil quality, plant nutrition, management, weed and disease incidence, and economic factors (Greenland and Szabolcs, 1994). Measures of soil quality in agricultural land include soil tilth (described by porosity, aggregation and other structural measures) as an index of soil physical quality, and pH, N, exchangeable cations, salinity, toxic chemicals and soil organic carbon as indicators of soil chemical quality (Karlen et al , 1992; Walker and Reuter, 1996). Among these, soil organic carbon has been proposed as a primary indicator of soil quality (Lal, 1997; Reeves, 1997). The frequency and amounts of carbon and N inputs needed to replenish soil carbon and N reserves have been suggested as good indicators of long-term sustainability of many cropping systems, and has been incorporated into predictive models of sustainability (Fig. I) (Lal, 1997; Reeves, 1997; Freebairn et al, 1998). Predictive models derived for dryland clay soils suggest that the first indicators of a system run-down under commercial cropping are increased requirements of fertilizer N (and other nutrients such as P and S) and water to maintain yields. In the longer-term yield and profitability losses also occur (Freebairn et al, 1998).

Polymeria longjfolia (Polymeria take-all or Peak Downs curse)is a native Australian species. It is one of the 'take-all' weeds, so named because of the 'perennial, rhizomatous habit' of many of these weeds, their ability to form 'dense competitive infestations that smother the ground' and that they 'take all 'the nutrient and water resources available in the soil (Sindel pers. coimm. ). It has long narrow grey/green leaves with pink/mauve, yellow-centred flowers. It forms a dense rhizomatous root system which appears to be largely resistant to chemical and cultivation treatment (McMillan 1988). Polymeria take-all was ranked as the tenth worst weed in New South Wales cotton growing areas in the 1988/89 season (Charles 1991). It appeared to be increasing in abundance at this time. Control measures for Polymeria take-all were far from satisfactory and progress towards such measures had been slow due to a lack of research effort (McMillan 1988). Our research aimed to survey the distribution, spread and potential for control of Polymeria take-all, and to elucidate the reasons for the success of this weed by examining aspects of its biology and ecology in the cotton fanning system.