For our industry to have a more secure future, free of further restrictive government legislation, we need to have all growers operating their farms at a high management standard. Educating growers, staff, consultants, ground-rig operators and aerial spraying contractors is the obvious way forward. BMP adoption with its accreditation process will, I believe help bring all growers u to a level of management that is demanded by our communities and government. A proven track record of improvement in all aspects of cotton production is what we are seeking.

Fusarium wilt continues to be an increasing problem in almost all major cotton growing regions of Australia. The severe impact of the disease is a major concern due to the absence or low resistance to this disease in most cotton cultivars. Control of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp vasinfectum (Fov), presents a key challenge to researchers and breeders, particularly with the difficulty involved in the reduction of disease loads in infected soils. Since the appearance of Fov in 1992 there is a pressing need to identify resistance/antifungal genes in either Gossypium or other plant species that can be transferred to elite cultivars. We identified a protein called NaDl which protects the flowers of the ornamental Tobacco, Nicotiana alata from damage by fungal pathogens (Lay et al. 2002). The protein is a member of the plant defensin family, a group of small, cystsine-rich proteins with anti-microbial activity. NaDl inhibits the spore germination and hyphal growth of Fov in in-vitro assays (fig. I). The gene coding for NaDl has been cloned (Lay et al. 2002) and transferred into cotton.

International cotton prices, as measured by the Cotlook A Index, fluctuated around 60 Us cents per pound in May and June 2000, marking a 16-cent recovery in 6 months. With the planting in the Northern Hemisphere, which accounts for 93% of world production, virtually complete, world demand is the factor that will drive prices to new levels over the next 14 months as it did during the first part of this calendar year. With less than two months before the end of the 1999/2000 crop year, the Cotlook A Index is averaging 52 cents per pound. With demand for cotton expected to grow more rapidly than production next season, world ending stocks will likely reach a five-year-low and the Cotlook A Index is expected to exceed 60 cents per pound in 2000/01. In 1999/00, prices declined for the fifth year. In 1995/96 and 1996/97 prices declined due to increased production. Scant growth of demand in 1997-1999 and larger production (in relation to price levels) contributed to further downward pressures on prices. One factor that is likely to have contributed to lower prices is the level of direct subsidies provided to cotton production. In 1998/99, as international prices deteriorated, direct subsidies to production increased. The level of direct assistance to production worldwide increased from Us$3.7 billion in 1997/98 to Us$4.7 billion in 1998/99. Despite efforts to remove agricultural subsidies, cotton growers in 8 countries received direct government assistance in 1998/99. A partial simulation that utilizes a version of the ICAC Price Model and a measure of the supply elasticity for the USA developed by the FAO and ICAC suggests that the average Cotlook A Index would have been 3 cents higher in 1999/00 and could be 6 cents higher than currently expected in 2000/01. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the simulation does not include the full response of other producing countries to higher prices.

You may or may not be aware that lain a member of the ITMF Spinners Committee. This Committee is made up of spinners from twelve different countries that represent over 70% of the total world consumption of cotton. It was established in 1985 and identified the following priorities as the major objectives for future work:-

Fusarium wilt of cotton, caused by the soil-borne fungus - Fusarium oxysporum formae specialis vasinfectum (Fov), is a worldwide disease of great economic importance. In Australia, it was first reported in 1993 in the Brookstead and Cecil Plans areas in the Darling Downs of Queensland (Kochman et al 1995). Now found in almost all major Australian cotton growing regions, Fusarium wilt has become a serious problem, causing substantial losses. Australian Fov strains have been demonstrated to be genetically distinct from all the overseas isolates screened to date (unpublished data). One possible explanation is that it is indigenous, previously occurring saprophytically in soil or parasitically on alternative hosts, and has recently arisen as a cotton pathogen as a consequence of unintentional selection for pathogenicity under cotton monoculture or host shifting. There are 17 native Gossypium species or wild cottons in Australia, four of which (G. australe, G. bickii, G. nelsonii, G. sturtianum) are widely distributed in the eastern and central areas where the major cotton-growing regions are located. As the closest relatives to the cultivated cottons, these native Gossypium species might have been associated with the Fov strains now present in the cotton-growing regions for a long period either by providing preferable habitats or acting as alternative hosts. In this study we aimed to determine whether there are any Fusarium wilt pathogens (Fov) occurring in association with these native Gossypium species. Furthermore, we also asked whether these native cottons are infected by other Fusarium species that in turn may be potential future threats to the cotton industry.

The issues of succession planning does riot only relate to cotton families, or farming families for that matter, but is a worldwide issues for many small, medium and even large business where ever more than one family member is involved in the ownership of that business

Growing concern in recent years about the effects of pesticides and fungicides on the environment has led to an increased interest in alternative plant protection methods worldwide. Enhancing plants' own natural defence systems in order to provide broad spectrum resistance against a range of fungal, viral and bacterial pathogens is an attractive and viable alternative. The process, known as Systemic Induced Resistance (SIR), requires prior exposure of the plant to a locally infecting pathogen, an avirulent form of a pathogen or special chemicals. This exposure results in a 'sensitisation' of the plant leading to a rapid resistance response on subsequent pathogen attack. The protection thus provided in both treated and distal tissues is usually in the form of decreased lesion numbers or disease severity.

Among the oilseeds, cottonseed is considered to be an important commodity because of its use in food and animal feed throughout the world. Cottonseed contains approximately 23-26% oil and 26-28% protein on a moisture, lint-free seed basis (Cherry, 1984). The current annual world production of cottonseed oil is approximately 4 million metric tons, ranking sixth behind soybean, oil palm, rapeseed, sunflower and groundnut (Oil World Annual, 1998). Global cottonseed production should expand in the future as a result of increased cotton acreage and higher seed yields.

Glycinebetaine is a compound that some plants accumulate as a defence against stress conditions. In this paper we demonstrate that the application of glycinebetaine to cotton seed increased plant yield. Seed germination and seedling vigour in a saline soil were increased by 64 and 68%, respectively by seed treatment with glycinebetaine at 5% (w/w). Cotton yield was increased by 18 to 22% by the seed treatment at 5 and 7.5 % , respectively. Additional foliar application of glycine betaine was beneficial only at low levels of seed treatment.

This report is a summary of a partnership project, involving Australian as well as overseas co-operators, which was conducted to evaluate four Australian cotton varieties in terms of their utility value to the textile mill and their agronomic and thus economic viability on the cotton production side. The four varieties, Sicala 40, Siokra V16, Sicala V2i, and Sicot 189, were grown and ginned by Auscott Ltd. , Narrabri, within the frame work of a Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd (CSD) variety trial. These varieties are representative of the bulk of Australian raw cotton production. As a result of a cooperative approach pursued by Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC), two renowned German manufacturers of mill preparatory equipment and open-end spinning frames, ie Trutzschler GinbH and Schlafhorst Autocoro GinbH, respectively, joined the consortium and conducted processing studies on a laboratory scale with sample bales that were shipped to Europe.