In Australia, most cotton is sown from late September to early October, when cool conditions, favourable to black root rot, usually occur. By comparing disease severity with different sowing dates and monitoring disease progress, we showed that delaying sowing can minimise the period of time that cotton is exposed to conditions favourable for development of black root rot.

My presentation is entitled "Industry Directions". I would like to share with you my thoughts and key areas of concern as identified by The Australian Cotton Industry Council. In my presentation I will also discuss a brief Industry SWOT and identify some gaps in Risk Management - how we are affected and are we properly prepared?

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (Fov) is an economically significant pathogen of cotton in Australia. Although the levels of resistance present in the new commercial cultivars have significantly improved, cotton breeders continue to look for additional sources of resistance. The native Australian Gossypium species represent an alternative source of resistance because they could have co-evolved with the indigenous Fov pathogens. However, they belong to the tertiary germplasm pool, which is the most difficult group of species from which to introgress genes into cultivated cottons. Interspecific triploid hybrids can be generated but they are sterile. The sterility barrier can be overcome using synthetic polyploids as introgression bridges, but it now clear that there is insufficient homoeologous chromosome interaction at meiosis to make these good breeding lines. A careful analysis of these lines, however, provides, an opportunity to begin to understand the genetics of fusarium wilt resistance in cotton. Fov disease bioassays on G. hirsutum X G. sturtianum BC3 multiple alien chromosome addition lines revealed that two G. sturtianum linkage groups were associated with improved Fov resistance, while two G. sturtianum linkage groups were associated with increased Fov susceptibility. This result suggests many genes are interacting in the cotton plant to determine the level of fusarium wilt resistance. To complete our understanding of the complex inheritance of resistance to the fusarium wilt disease in cotton, quantitative trait loci analyses of the segregation of fusarium wilt resistance in an elite cotton family have been undertaken. We aim to map quantitative disease resistance loci, which act additively to confer disease resistance against Fusarium wilt. By identifying QTLs for fusarium wilt resistance, we intend to identify the genes involved and mark them with molecular marker surrogates that can be used in marker assisted breeding projects to develop a new generation of better fusarium wilt resistant cultivars.

A major research effort over the last 13 years by researchers from DPI&F in collaboration with other agencies has sought to understand what strains of the pathogen are present, monitor the distribution of the pathogen and to identify new stains as they emerge. A major focus has been on the development of disease management strategies including exclusion of the pathogen and farm hygiene practices, development of varieties with higher tolerance to Fov, crop rotation options, biological control and silicon fertilisation. The aim of this paper is to summarise some of the research findings of the DPI&F on management of Fusarium wilt of cotton.

The objective of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of Fov in Australian cotton fields. This will provide information relevant to the attempt to control the disease through breeding of resistant cotton cultivars and development of improved phytosanitary strategies.

Roundup Ready cotton has been commercially available to Australian cotton growers for five years and has been widely adopted by the industry with approximately 77% of the area planted to Roundup Ready cotton in the 2005/06 season. The next generation of herbicide tolerant cotton varieties; Roundup Ready Flex and Liberty Link, are likely to become commercially available over the next couple of years. These traits will allow the cotton industry to further develop in-crop weed management systems that may rely almost exclusively on the use of one or other of these technologies. The widespread adoption of these technologies is likely to result in a further decrease in the use of residual herbicides, inter-row cultivation and hand-hoeing in cotton fields. Adoption of these systems should reduce crop establishment problems, allow better yields and reduce problems of environmental contamination currently occurring with residual herbicides. However, their use is also likely to further exacerbate problems with species shift, herbicide spray drift and the control of volunteer crop plants, as well as increasing the risk of weeds developing herbicide resistanc

Knowledge of the lifecycle of troublesome weeds is crucial for devising successful Integrated Weed Management (IWM) strategies. This is particularly useful when potential lifecycle weaknesses are identified and exploited by management. Grouping weed management by lifecycle similarity is intrinsically attractive, particularly when a large numbers of weeds are encountered. This idea was examined for the botanically diverse weed flora in the Australian cotton industry. The lifecycle of 32 weeds was examined. This information was drawn from the literature, unpublished field observations and from field studies on the lifecycle of problematic species. The literature revealed four weed groups, those with emergence and reproduction: - year round, in all but winter, between mid-spring and mid-autumn, and those with defined warm season periods. These generalised groupings allowed major gaps in management to be identified, in particular in fallow, pre-plant and post-harvest situations. Individual weed species have different lifecycle characteristics, despite apparent similarities. Failure to recognise these are a key reason why problematic weeds sometimes arise. The lifecycle (field) studies revealed different defined periods of growth and reproduction which could be exploited. These studies indicate that while IWM strategy generalisations can be made based on lifecycle similarity, that specific studies and management of problematic weeds will often be needed.

The complexity, uncertainty and variability of Australian ecosystems raises the question whether science is able to deliver answers to water sharing problems. In the end, much of the decision making seems to be based on value judgements about the best use of water (Falkenmark 2003). In this paper we will argue that science has an important role to play. Science can help define the risks involved in using water for a certain purpose. Understanding these risks will allow better decision making.

Bioremediation can be defined as any process where biological agents provide a practical solution to the unwanted presence of a chemical substance. In providing this solution, the risk or probability that a hazard may act must be substantially reduced. Thus, in its broadest sense, even the introduction of GM technology to reduce dependence on insecticides (Fitt, 2000), or the encouragement of beneficial predators of pests could be included in bioremediation. However, in this paper the term will be restricted to processes where a more specific biological agent, usually a microbe or microbial product or a plant is recognised as reducing the risk from agrochemicals such as insecticides or herbicides. In particular, attention will be directed towards those processes acting to reduce the 'half-life' of the chemical as a contaminant in the local environment. The half life is the time taken for the amount of chemical present to be reduced to half a baseline value. The term remains very broad though, since a range of physical or chemical actions mediated by these biological agents could be involved in reducing the amount of the chemical present.

To understand the trends in picking capacity for the Australian crop we must first quickly look at some historical data to understand what are the factors and influences that have shaped the demand for services to the cotton industry, specifically the picking of the crop.