In 1999, CRDC provided funding to CSIRO to purchase a custom built trailer to transport planter or plot harvester to remote experiment sites. These sites were Hillston, Bourke, Warren, St George, Collarenabri, Breeza, Moree, Boggabilla, Merah North and North Star. In more recent times, CSIRO has needed to travel to other sites in Qld such as Emerald and Dalby-Brookstead

Purpose: The workshop brought together soil researchers to discuss: existing research; issues arising; new developments; gaps and future directions. This workshop/meeting group is one of many specific discipline groups coordinated through the Cotton CRC. This meeting/workshop will highlight the ongoing needs of both CRDC and the Cotton CRC and help in gaining an idea of the future needs and direction of cotton soil research.

The study underlying this report was concerned with taking samples of seedcotton from the field and tracking them through the stages of ginning, spinning, and fabric production. Data on various attributes of the cotton was collected at several stages. The study has been designed from the standpoint that cotton is ultimately valued at the consumer product level, so the best way to gauge the effects of a particular factor in cotton processing is to analyz.e its effect on realised quality, that is, quality seen at the fabric stage. Prediction is one of the most important parts of the results of this project. The vision is to have a historical record of various lint attributes and the resulting realised quality (particularly white speck neppiness) that will allow the prediction of the realised quality of current day lint at the gin loadout door. 1bis would have the effect of removing much of the uncertainty in a multi-million dollar production chain that might involve several changes of ownership as well as long distances and long periods to produce a finished product.

Through a review of the literature it is apparent that many of the generic methods and techniques which will be so valuable to the efficient implementation of precision agriculture farming systems are being developed for other agricultural crops and will be largely transferable with little alterations and applied to cotton management. Foremost amongst these are the engineering processes and tools required to perform such machinations as the variable rate application of fertiliser. seeds and pesticides. Elements of weakness within a precision agriculture management cycle for Australian cotton farming systems are identified. These primarily included the lack of knowledge of within-field variability of cotton yield upon which an estimation of the typical variability could be based. Were it available, this typical variability would then be used as a measure of the opportunity fo r potential adoption of precision agricultural management techniques

To replace the aging automatic weather station at the Australian CottonResearch Unit

Project objectives ( i) Conduct Verticillium wilt disease grading of F2 progeny from the intra-specific crosses G. hirsutum Sicala V-1 x Siokra 1-4 and Acala Royale x CS 50 and the inter-specific cross G. Q barbadense Pima S-7 x G. hirsutum CS 50. (ii) Identify candidate DNA markers linked with enhanced resistance to Verticillium wilt from Sicala V-1, Acala Royale and Pima S-7. (iii) Confirm and map candidate AFLP markers linked with resistance to Verticillium wilt from Sicala V-1, Acala Royale and Pima S-7. If needed, isolate additional AFLP markers that bracket the resistance gene(s). (iv) Test characterised AFLP markers linked with resistance to Verticillium wilt on other cotton varieties to determine correlations in more distant germplasm. (v) Develop rapid molecular assays for DNA markers for enhanced resistance to Verticillium wilt from Sicala V-1, Acala Royale and Pima S-7.

This project continues and extends the development of intergenomic germplasm initiated under CSP4 7C. Under CSP4 7C, fertile synthetic hybrids that incorporate chromosomes from indigenous Gossypium species into cultivated cotton were developed, overcoming the fertility barrier. These new fertile hybrids include indigenous species that have gossypol-free seeds and possible resistance to Fusarium wilt Under that grant a variety of strategies for transferring genes from the native species were tested. In the end, a process called bexaploid bridging was identified as being the most likely to maximize the number of exchanges between the chromosomes of the indigenous Gossypium species and those of the cultivated cottons. This process involves repeatedly backcrossing the synthetic hybrids to cultivated cottons. Over several generations the chromosomes of the native species are progressively lost, but in the process some of their genes are left behind on the cultivated cotton chromosomes

Aim: * To provide ongoing technical support and maintenance for weather station network and data generated by them ensuring provision of high quality weather data to research and all other facets of the cotton industry

Research has shown that damage caused by chewing and sucking pests does not necessarily lead to a yield loss in cotton. 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) and as other stress factors appear. But we have also shown that mild drought stress may limit the extent of mite damage possibly by making the canopy less attractive to mite development. Compensation can be enhanced through maintaining a healthy crop canopy but not one with excessive leaf area (which leads to yield loss). We are exploring options to minimise excessive growth response to pest damage such as selecting okra leaf cultivars and appropriate planting density. A well-managed crop may even respond to damage such as early season tipping out with yield gain over an undamaged crop - an area of focus in our on-going research. We are also continuing the effort to incorporate compensation results in a decision support system for pest management.

The CRDC provided $4,000 for DPI, specifically BIARC, to conduct field investigations and construct economic models to assess the potential for farming fish using water from farm ring-tanks. Four economic models were constructed using three species and four different production scenarios. The fish fauna in six ring-tanks in the Dalby region was also investigated to assess the potential impact of agricultural chemicals. This information was then used to produce the following document outlining the benefits and difficulties of fish production in on-farm water storages.