Groundwater is water that has drained through the soil and accumulated at depth within the deeper subsoil or in bedrock. Groundwater recharge is the process whereby the surplus of infiltration over evapotranspiration drains from the root-zone and continues to flow downward through the so-called vadose-zone toward the ground-water table (Gee and Hillel, 1988). The vadose zone is the volume of deeper subsoil, that is not as biologically active as the root-zone, where deep drainage or recharge occurs. The vadose zone is as heterogenous in nature as the topsoil it lies beneath and because of its inaccessibility is more difficult to map and hence understand the processes occurring in this part of the subsoil. In areas where irrigation is carried out extensively and over a prolonged period of time, such as the irrigated cotton growing areas of northern New South Wales, information is necessary in order to determine the amount of excessive infiltration through the topsoil and the quantity and fate of the deep draining waters through the vadose zone.

We have carried out one season of experiments on plant growth regulators that have not been used commercially in the Australian industry before (Glycinebetaine, Gibberellic acid and PGR TV) and compared these to Pix. These novel plant growth regulators may provide an important tool in improving fruit retention in cotton. Further, other important gains in efficiency may occur with the use of these regulators. These include the possible setting of fruit at lower node positions, which in turn may improve earliness, reduce late season insect control costs and reduce late season water applications.

This paper aims to present the breeder's understanding of fibre and variety characteristics for the next decade. We need to think on that time scale because that is how long it takes us to produce a new variety. In addition, ginning and spinning investments need to consider times of that magnitude to get value from new equipment which may have higher fibre quality targets. What will spinners require? The last two seasons have highlighted shifts in market preference for fibre properties. Base levels for many fibre properties have narrowed, with preference for micronaire between 3.8 and 4.5 (and higher discounts for micronaire above 5.0); fibre length preference is now above 1.125 inches, particularly for some end uses. Fibre strength preference is now above 28 g/tex. These shifts are in addition to the preference for reduced neps, more uniformity in all properties, less trash and no contamination. Our breeding program will utilize these ctiteria in selection at all stages. For segregating material in the early stages of breeding we will exclude lines more aggressively on HVl fibre data. At the end of our breeding timeline, there may be lines ready for release which will be terminated because fibre properties are marginal

The relationship between early season insecticide use and later outbreaks of aphids was investigated in three field experiments. Outbreaks of Aphis gossypii occurred in cotton treated with thiocarb, but not that treated with endosulfan or dimethoate. All insecticides caused significant reductions in predator abundance. Significant negative relationships were found between the abundance of predators early in the season and the final abundance of aphids. Predation is implicated as an important factor influencing the early season survival of aphids.

In this paper we present data on the effects of N fertilizer application to a wheat rotation crop on soil strength, nutrient uptake by the following cotton crop and cotton lint yields which were obtained from two studies on rotation crop management which commenced in 1993. The aim of this research was to define the best rotation/management combination whereby yields and quality of subsequent cotton crops can be maximized and sustained over the long-term.

The world's textile industry has gone through structural changes and there are rapid moves toward industrial reorganization in Asian countries in pursue of the progress in the developed countries. Since producers in China are reinforcing low pricing by large scale operation through integration and equipment expansion, it is essential that the Australian cotton industry to develop better and better quality cotton for the high quality yam manufacturers targeting for the value added textile products to remain in the market; and hence our topic of the day: &quote;Competitiveness through product excellence&quote;.

Knowledge of the quantity of water draining below the root-zone is necessary in order to maximise and ensure sustainable water use, particularly when surface water is applied for irrigated agricultural production. Traditionally, this has been based on soil hydraulic properties which whether measured directly or correlated with soil morphological properties, is difficult, time-consuming and expensive to determine (Shaw, 1988). Shaw and Thorbum (1985) indicated that soil leaching is closely related to hydraulic conductivity (K) and that important soil properties that influence K, including; clay content, clay mineralogy (cation exchange Capacity/Clay % Ratio, CCR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), can be used to predict Ieaching fraction (LF) and deep drainage (DD). As a consequence an empirical model was developed into a program called Sodium-SaLF, which provides estimates of LF, DD and average root zone EC, at steady-state, based on these laboratory measured soil properties that are generally collected during soil surveys (ie. CEC and clay content). A small number of water quality parameters, such as EC, , depth of irrigation water applied and annual rainfall, as well as the crop being grown is also required by the model. Estimating deep drainage on the field-scale is complicated because of the relatively large spatial variation of soil. Over the last decade clay content (Williams and Hoey, 1987); depth to clay (Doolittleet al, 1994) and Ieaching fraction (Slavich and Yang, 1987) have been estimated using Electromagnetic instruments. Here we demonstrate the use of a Mobile Electromagnetic Sensing System developed by Triantafilis and MCBratney (1998) and its potential in estimating deep drainage and average soil EC, at steady state using EC, data and soil information coupled to a salt and leaching fraction model or Sodium-SaLF (Shaw and Thorbum, 1995). The research was carried out in a irrigated cotton field in the lower Gwydir valley, Australia.

Soil fauna have generally remained an 'unseen' resource to Australian cotton growers. No studies have investigated the effects of cotton fanning practices and insecticides on beneficial soil fauna since the 1970's (Bishop and Blood, 1977 & 1980; Room, 1979). This study (Lytton-Hitchins, 1998) was a baseline biodiversity survey of the principal soil faunal groups found in irrigated cotton fields of north western New South Wales. Field work was conducted on commercial cotton farms located in the Macquarie, lower Nanioi, and Gwydir valleys. The various growers and agronomists involved were practitioners of innovative and 'best management' practices. Fields sampled differed in (i) the age of cotton production and (it) the crop protection practices used to control insect pests. Some field experiments were conducted using whole cotton fields that were unreplicated, whilst others used large replicated plots within whole fields on commercial cotton farms. At the Australian Cotton Research institute (ACRl), a small field with replicate plots of Envirofeast cotton and lucerne was also sampled. Standardised experimental designs were devised and sampling equipment constructed. Surface active species were collected using pitfall traps, visual ground searching, and hand collection. Pitfall trapping periods were usually aligned with irrigation cycles. Extensive field observations were included to determine species-specific behavioural patterns, identify key refugia, and collect species that might avoid pitfall traps. Soil cores were used to sample soil fauna in rhizosphere soil to a depth of 150 mm. Springtails, soil-dwelling beetles, ants, and earwigs were considered in detail, and identified to species or morphological-species. Beetles and earwigs were assigned 'reported' feeding habits, and ants and springtails allocated to functional groups.

Insecticide application to control heIiothis on cotton is rapidly becoming a major production cost for field crops, particularly cotton, in central Queensland (CQ). Chemical protection of cotton crops is frequently required for more than 3/4 of the season. The intensive use of insecticides for heliothis control in cotton has led to an alarming rise in levels of resistance to many currently used insecticides (Fitt 1994, Gunning 1996). Insecticidal control of heliothis now costs many cotton growers in CQ in excess of $700/ha per season

The release of INGARD&quote;' cotton has presented the opportunity to study grower attitudes to the control and distribution of genetic material protected by plant and technology patents and trademarks. INGARD' cotton is the first major release of this type in Australia where growers have to enter into legally binding contracts ( licenses ) to use the plant. This study has been undertaken as part of a PhD program funded by a University Scholarship. The first survey was conducted in June 1997 and followed preliminary interviews and information gathering primarily in the Gwydir Valley. The survey focused on growers attitudes regarding issues involved with the release of the transgenic cotton INGARD. A total of 29 responses were received; 19 from growers of both conventional and INGARD cotton and 10 from growers of conventional cotton. Data collected was analyzed on SPSS (a statistical analysis package). Frequency distributions were tabulated to reveal the strength and range of responses to questions. Factor analysis was undertaken on sets of questions to find associations within the sets which affect the adoption of the technology. The size growers' of plantings varied from 40 hectares to 5600 hectares of conventional cotton with about half below 700 hectares and half above 1300 hectares. Some INGARD growers were growing seed crops as well as INGARD under commercial licenses and some growers had more than one INGARD license because they have more than one property. INGARD areas varied from 28 hectares to 570 hectares. The format of the questions varied from yes/no answers to others in which growers were asked to rate their response on a scale of I to 7 (one reflecting low importance or low acceptability and seven reflecting high importance or high acceptability). There is a possible area of ambiguity in this if the respondent did not closely follow the question because importance of a factor and acceptability of a factor can have an inverse relationship. Growers were asked to include comments if they felt this helped in their response. The comments received were wide ranging and provided insight into growers' thoughts. Unfortunately this paper is too short to include the comments although they support the general trend in responses. Further analysis will be conducted on the comments and a full transcripts available in the longer version of this paper.