Cotton Bunchy Top (CBT), a relatively new disease, was first observed by growers in Australian cotton fields in the 1998-99 cotton-growing season. The disease has since been reported across New South Wales and Queensland, from the Macquarie Valley in the south to the Emerald region in the north. CBT is suspected to be spread by the cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii, Glover). Symptoms of CBT include reduced plant height, leaf surface area, petiole length and internodes length. Pale, angular patterns on the leaf margins are often observed with the remainder of the leaf blade usually dark green in colour. These darker leaves have a leathery and sometimes glossy texture when compared to healthy control plants. Typically, the pale angular patches in field-grown cotton turn red as leaves age. Boll development is also affected, with bolls often less than half the size of healthy bolls.

The current water debate is centred on the water reform initiatives being developed and implemented in each state. In NSW and Queensland the water reforms are being strongly influenced by COAG requirements and the introduction of the Murray-Darling 'cap' on water use, both of which were adopted in 1995. The genesis of these can be attributed to the influence of economic rationalism, the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Agenda 21 declarations and the Barwon-Darling blue green algae outbreak of 1992. At the same time the influence of the globalisation of knowledge resulting from the communication revolution, better informed and organised pressure groups, community participation and the way the media tends to use conflict based reporting, cannot be ignored. The government agencies now involved in the water debate are significantly different to those of 10 or more years ago. Also for the cotton industry in part of Queensland the influence of integrated basin management has played an important role. Until the mid-1990's, when Queensland joined the MDBC it never saw it had a role or interest in Murray-Darling basin management. In fact some say that Queensland is still a reluctant participant in MDBC initiatives. Nowadays water management is not solely a valley issue, it must be placed within a basin context, and outcomes can be influenced by basin factors. The factors influencing tile water debate and changes in the water industry and water management will not diminish in the short term. The cotton industry will need to adapt to these changes, whilst continuing to adapt to other changing factors within its business.

Room (1979) had recognised that a hand-held computer-compatible device for recording data in the field would increase the value of SERATAC. The idea was revisited twice daring the SERATAC era. Final development of a product was delayed to lack of resources, and because the devices were cumbersome, expensive, task-specific and individually soon obsolete, while the software was device-specific and difficult to program (Hearn and Bange 2002). Advancements in computer technology over the past few years, with strong support from industry have enabled the original vision to become reality with the release of the first version of CottonLOGIC for Palm OS@ Handhelds. It has been developed by the CSRO/Cotton CRC cotton management support systems team at Narrabri, with the help of an in-field evaluation team, comprising of cotton pest managers from various regions. This paper presents details of the operation of CottonLOGIC for Palm OS handheld systems, and discusses issues resulting from field and independent evaluation.

To the question Is Australian raw cotton or cottonseed oil genetically modifiedΓ' The answer is 'emphatically, NO! No biotechnology resulting in, or even influencing, the production of genetically modified fibre or oil, is registered for use in Australia. Research progress suggests that it will be many years before any such technology could be successfully registered in Australia.

Fusarium wilt of cotton was first identified on the Darling Downs in Queensland almost 10 years ago in March 1993. This destructive disease of cotton is caused by a soil-inhabiting fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp Vasinfectum (Fov), and two different strains of the causal pathogen have since been described in Australia (Kochman, 1995; Davis et al 1996; Kochman, et al. 1998). The two different genotypes (strains) identified amongst the Australian isolates of Fov corresponded to Vegetative Compatibility Groups (VCGs) 01/11 and 01/12. At present, each of these strains appears to be equally capable of causing disease in the current commercial varieties in Australia, but this may not be the case with new varieties in the future. The two Australian genotypes are distinct from all overseas strains of Fov and the other species of Fusarium examined thus far. The disease has been found in new areas every season since 1993. During the 2001/2002 season, new recordings of Fov were confirmed in the Brewarrina (NSW) district and in Pima cotton at Bourke. Pima cotton was also devastated by the disease in the trials at &quote;Cowan&quote; near Cecil Plains in Queensland. The disease was identified on more farms at Brookstead, Dalby, Goondiwindi, Toobeah, St George and Theodore in Queensland as well as Moree, Bourke, Carroll and Warren in New South Wales. No records of Fov have yet been made from the production areas of Emerald in Queensland, Tandou or Hillston in New South Wales or in Western Australia. No new strains of Fov have been identified amongst the specimens received to date.

Thielaviopsis basicola is a ubiquitous soil borne fungal plant pathogen with a wide host ran e. It is the causal agent of black root rot on many agriculturally important crops such as cotton, tobacco and legumes. Twenty-five T. basicola isolates collected from three cotton growing regions, and peat and lettuce soils from a range of locations were examined for genetic variation using the RAPD-PCR technique with 10 arbitrary primers. DNA polymorphisms were detected among isolates from the cotton-growing regions of Goondiwindi, Qld, and Narrabri and Warren, NSW. A phenogram was constructed using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) for cluster analysis. Isolates from two cotton-growing regions each clustered into a distinct group based on RAPD-PCR profiles suggesting independent evolution of T. basicola between these regions. Isolates from the third cotton-growing region did not cluster and were distributed between the other two regions, suggesting migration and gene flow between these regions. Lettuce isolates clustered with peat isolates providing more evidence that peat is a source of T basicola found in lettuce soils. The results indicated that RAPD-PCR is a useful tool in detecting genetic variability in populations of T. basicola.

Managing sustainable cotton production is becoming more difficult with the ever increasing demand on limited resources. In addition cotton growers are facing increased pressures to manage resources more cost effectively and to be more accountable for the impact that their decisions make on the surrounding environment. Computer based decision support systems and simulation models are being developed to provide cotton growers with the best information and tools available from research to assist with their management decisions. A primary aim of the decision support and modelling teams in the cotton industry is to utilise sound and up to date technology, and integrate this technology across different electronic platforms and mechanisms, and finally delivering it to the industry for adoption. We in the cotton industry are in an enviable position with an agricultural industry rich with successes and failures in computerised decision support. Therefore we can call on a number of approaches to assist acceptance, development and evaluation of its products and activities. One principle approach is to use multifaceted skills and knowledge, coordinated effectively with expertise and input of others when available. The first part of this paper will discuss the operation and means by which the decision support team, which now includes a number of people working on the crop simulation models to deliver decision support tools. The second part of the paper will address the significance of decision support and models to the cotton industry. Finally, the paper will present future activities being undertaken, involving both the decision support team and those associated with modelling

Biotechnology is currently reshaping agriculture throughout the world with over 16 million hectares planted annually to genetically modified (GM) soybeans, corn and cotton, mainly in the US, but increasingly in Australia, Asia and South America. Some controversy remains towards GM food products and there is still a reluctance to embrace GM crops in Europe, but GM cotton is partially buffered from these concerns, as only its highly processed oil is used for human consumption, and it is now being widely grown in many cotton producing counties.

The ongoing development and adoption of decision support tools within the Australian cotton industry has led to the need for refinement of several crop data collection techniques. Present and future applications of the crop growth simulation model OZCOT (Hearn, 1994), whole farm water use efficiency calculator (Tennalcoon and Milroy, 2000), and the crop water management tool HydroLOGIC will be greatly enhanced by updates of crop status and development entered throughout the season. One of those needed is crop leaf area, which will help to improve estimates of evapotranspiration of moisture from the soil and crop. Leaf area of the crop is often referred to as the leaf area index (LAI), which represents the leaf area of the crop above a known area of ground surface. This paper presents the results of initial studies comparing a range of simple methodologies that could be used by cotton managers to obtain estimates of Lal throughout the cotton season

The disease black root rot (BRR) is caused by the soil born fungal pathogen Thielaviopsis basicola. This fungus has a broad host range, infecting 137 species, with a worldwide distribution (Honeess, 1994). The combination of a wide host range with the ability to produce persistent resting spores contributes to a high disease impact. BRR symptoms are readily identifiable in the field, with stunting of seedlings and characteristic black lesions on younger roots. While not killing the seedlings, except in extreme cases or in association with other seedling diseases, the stunting can carry through to maturity with significant yield reductions. in Australia BER is a relatively new disease, having only been found in cotton fields in 1989 (Allen, 1990), yet it has rapidly become a widespread major problem particularly when season temperatures are below average. Investigations are underway as a Cotton CRC project to assess the genetic diversity of the pathogen T.basicola. All understanding of the diversity is important for disease control measures to be instigated effectively; this includes plant breeding (even though resistance in cotton is yet to be found). The focus of this work is to examine the variation in Australia of strains of T.basicola, and from this information determine the pathogen's likely origins and effects on field outbreaks. To achieve this, molecular analysis of diversity will be combined with pathogenicity testing.