During the past two seasons, cotton crops growing in Queensland have been surveyed for diseases. In March 1993 specimens of wilted cotton were collected from the Brookstead area of the Darling Downs. Specimens from the same area were also supplied by local cotton consultants. Verticillium wilt is common in this area but the symptoms shown by these plants were not typical of that disease. The symptoms were: wilting; extensive dark brown discolouration of the vascular system and; leaf and stem death often from the top down. Some affected plants were re-shooting from the base. Hence these specimens were examined in the laboratory to determine the cause of these symptoms. The fungus Fusarium was consistently isolated from the vascular systems of these specimens. When this fungus was used to inoculate cotton seedlings they started to wilt after about two weeks. The fungus was re-isolated from the apical region of the wilted seedlings, indicating that it was a true vascular wilt pathogen

During the 1970s and 1980s organophosphates (OPs), particularly monocrotophos (first tested 1969-70, registered 1972-73) and profenofos (first tested 1973-74, registered 1978-79), were the mainstay of mite control for the Australian cotton industry until propargite (first tested 1989-90, registered 1993-94) was released. Control problems with monocrotophos were reported as early as 1976 and NSW Agriculture has carried out a resistance monitoring program at Rydalmere since then. The results of those investigations are reported in this paper.

In common with about 80% of all plants, cotton forms VAM (vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas). VAM are associations of soil-borne fungi with the roots of plants. Presence of the fungi in the roots increases the uptake of mineral nutrients that diffuse slowly through soil, such as phosphate, zinc, copper, potassium and ammonium. The fungus spreads beyond the nutrient depletion zone surrounding the root and accesses the pool of nutrients in the soil. VAM fungi also influence the resistance of plants to drought stress and pathogens. V AM are mutually beneficial because the plant supplies the fungus with organic food.

One of the few aspects of our industry that is controllable is injury to people. A goal for "The Australian Cotton Growers11 is to aim at a reduction in the insurance rate and to apply for a separate rate classification for the Cotton Industry based on performance. This performance must be demonstrated by reduced cost of Workers' Compensation

Agriculture is now recognised to be among the highest risk industry groups for occupational injury and disease. Action to improve the safety and well being of farmers, their families and workers is not only a responsible move for primary producers to make , it also makes good business sense. Farmsafe Australia Inc, the national organisation with a mission to assist the farming community to improve health and safety on fanns, has produced a package titled "Managing Fann Safety" as a management tool for primary producers to assist in the management of farm health and safety

The markets are demanding what markets always demand - satisfaction of the customer at the lowest possible price. The cotton textile industry is composed of a series of manufacturing stages, each of which has the next stage as its customer. We are all ultimately driven by the final customer - ourselves, as consumers of textile products in the form of clothing, domestic textiles such as sheets, towels, curtains, upholstery, and various other cotton products

My idea today, with Australian farmers achieving the highest yield in the world, is that fibre quality has to be addressed almost separately to yield. I also believe most fibre characteristics , with our current varieties , can be controlled by farm management with a thorough knowledge of plant physiology and environmental adaptation.

With the advent of new molecular genetic techniques, it is now possible to identify the particular pathogen strain in an outbreak of plant disease, to characterise it, and potentially, to isolate genes associated with pathogenicity. Similarly, such techniques can also be employed to differentiate between plant cultivars and progeny in plant breeding programs and in the identification of genes implicated in improved plant tolerance to diseases. The sensitivity of these techniques rests in their ability to detect the rare or subtle differences that exist between the genes of one individual and another. In the present investigation, we have applied Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA {RAPD) -PCR and gene cloning techniques to strains of V. dahliae isolated from cotton plants. and to cotton cultivars tolerant to Verticillium wilt, with the aim of achieving a better understanding of this pathogenic disease in cotton.

Quality of fiber has long been a concern to textile mills. Growing areas such as the San Joaquin Valley in California have historically been paid a premium for consistently high quality. As mill mechanization has increased, so has the demand for high quality fibers. Classing of cotton has demonstrated that within a bale of cotton there is variation in fiber quality.

Funds tor Ivan Kennedy and steven Kimber to attend Australian cotton conference 1992