Research has shown that well-managed, good condition river red gum ecosystems on cotton farms provide important habitat for threatened and declining woodland birds. Riparian areas provide biodiverse, structurally complex, well-connected habitat and are therefore home to species that are not found elsewhere on the floodplain.

An Investigation on where, when and how riparian vegetation regeneration occurs across the northern Murray-Darling Basin. Examining spatial patterns in plant dispersal, germination, seedling establishment and reproduction at sites across the MacIntyre/ Weir Rivers, the Balonne River and its tributaries, and the Barwon-Darling. Our research aims to identify which factors are important in driving these patterns including hydrology, tree canopy cover, ground cover, grazing etc.

This research studies the rate of recovery of a depleted aquifer under variable climatic conditions. Fundamentally, it is aimed at quantifying the relative importance of stream recharge via stream channels and diffuse recharge over the land surface and to identify the governing processes and suitable conditions for recharge.

The susceptibility to Bt toxins in Australian field populations of Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa punctigera has been monitored at the Australian Cotton Research Institute since 1993 (Forrester and Bird 1996). This paper reviews the methods and results for the Bt resistance monitoring survey for the 1999/2000 cotton-season and compares them with data from previous seasons. No changes in susceptibility to discriminating doses of Dipel or MVP2 have been recorded in any of the Australian field populations of H. armigera or H. punctigera collected from cotton to date. Significant reductions in susceptibility to Dipel or MVP2 were recorded in field populations of H. armigera collected from sweet corn crops in coastal Victoria

Hands-on training in soil management was given to one hundred & seventy members of the Australian cotton industry at a series of 11 courses between October 1997 and September 1999. The main aim of the courses was to demonstrate how to use 'SOILpak for Cotton Growers, Third Edition. They were held in the Narrabri, Warren, Moree, Emerald, Dalby, Wee Waa, Goondiwindi, Gunnedah, Theodore, Walgett and Bourke districts.

The introduction of legumes into the cotton cropping system improves the N nutrition of the cotton following the legume crop. N fertilizer rates for cotton can be reduced by up to 50% when preceded by well-grown legume crops that can efficiently fix atmospheric N. The most effective N fixing legumes identified within this project include soybeans, lablab, faba beans, field peas and forage legumes, particularly vetches. While most growers aim for some financial return from their rotation crops, substantial benefits can be gained from green-manuring most legume crops, even those which have little value as seed crops (lablab and vetch). Where legume crops have preceded cotton the maximum yield attained has been consistently 4-5% higher than the maximum yield attained where non-legume rotation crops were used. This is probably a result of improved soil structure (tilth) enabling better root development, which is reflected in improved crop nutrition and soil water relations. Yield improvement and saving in N fertilizer application are typified in Figure I.

In Australia, cotton is generally grown using furrow irrigation on cracking grey clays with slow drainage, and is therefore usually subjected to some degree of waterlogging. This problem is made worse by imperfect land preparation or by rainfall after irrigation. Yield reduction of 10 to 40% have been reported (Hodgson & Chan, 1982), resulting in millions of dollars annual loss to fanners (Dennis et al 2000). Therefore, ameliorating this problem would be highly beneficial to the industry

Water use has become an important issue locally and globally. There is increasing competition between agricultural, industrial, domestic and environmental sectors. Concurrent with this increase in competition, there has been increasing public debate about water and environmental issues. This imposes additional pressure on irrigators, including cotton growers, to be accountable for the way water is used. Even without these external pressures, water use efficiency (WUE) is a key issue for producers. If water is a limiting resource, optimising production per unit of available water is clearly an important component of maximising returns. Further, efficiencies in water use may indicate losses from the system which can cause additional difficulties on the property: excessive rim-off leading to erosion, seepage leading to localised ground water rise and possibly salinisation. To assess the current water use efficiency within the cotton industry we calculated water use efficiency at the crop and the farm level using producers' historical water management data. A whole farm water use efficiency was calculated and then two components of this: the efficiency with which water was supplied to the crop (irrigation efficiency) and the efficiency with which the crop converted the water it actually used into lint(crop water use efficiency). Our results indicate significant opportunities for improving water use. Using this simple technique, producers can assess their own water use efficiency and compare their performance to others in their area or to industry benchmarks.

Damage caused by chewing and sucking pests does not necessarily lead to a yield loss in cotton. There is ample evidence indicating that cotton can fully recover from levels of vegetative and fruit damage above the current industry threshold. The ability to compensate for tissue loss in cotton is attributed to an improved canopy development stimulated by pre-squaring tip damage, and to fruit substitution for damage and increased fruit production during the reproductive stage. However, cotton's ability to compensate for fruit loss declines dramatically as boll development accelerates (3-4 weeks after first square), therefore, a more cautious pest management is necessary for about 2 months (until cut out)to avoid yield loss. A look-up table of the estimated fruit damage caused by Helicoverpa larvae at different fruiting stages is provided to allow assessment of a crop's ability to tolerate fruitloss. To ensure full compensation, it is important to maintain a healthy crop canopy (ie. , keeping mite damage under control) but not one with excessive leaf area (which leads to yield loss), particularly during the boll forming stage. Excessive growth response to pest damage may be minimised by selecting okra leafcultivars and by managing nitrogen and irrigation properly. A well managed crop may even respond to damage such as early season tipping out with yield gain over an undamaged crop. Clearly, the potential for reduced pesticide use in early and mid-season clearly exists and so do the attendant benefits of that. Harnessing the compensatory capacity of cotton is a key component of Integrated Pest Management and sustainable cotton cropping. This research continues the effort to ascertain ways of fully utilising the compensation potential of cotton for future incorporation into decision support systems for pest management.