Due to the economic pressure being placed on the cotton fibre by increased use of man-made fibres, the revolution in textile processing technology and the current world surplus, research on the quality and value of cotton has become even more important in recent times. Experts, including breeders and producers, spinners, merchants and manufacturers, who see the marketing challenge in every phase of cotton handling, are calling for changes in the system that evolved in an age before the advanced technology of today was realised.

This is the final report for project DAN168C. This project ceased after 1 year of operation. Mark Hickman was the , however Mark moved into the position of IPM training coordinator with the department of primary industries, based at Toowoomba. Hence why this final report outlines some objectives being achieved.

While Mark was the IDO for the Upper Namoi it provided a mechanism for the Upper Namoi Cotton Grower Association to identify research and extension needs at both a local and national level. The IDO, is responsible for conducting farm demonstrations to improve the adoption new technology and management practices by local cotton growers.

The IDO position had a continued focus on the area of integrated pest management (IPM) and area wide insect management (AWM). Growers groups improve the level of communication between neighbours and consultants and this has facilitated a reduction in the use of pesticides by growers in a regional by providing increased confidence.

Mark was able to document a significant level of trigagramma activity in the sorghum crops of the Upper Namoi. He was able to foster and further develop the confidence in IPM through his involvement with the local area wide Harparay group.

In addition to the local Upper Namoi commitments Mark was the CRC Extension Team Leader for the Farming System focus group. While in that capacity Mark help develop and deliver a series of information workshops on limited water strategies in irrigated cotton. This was a successful; the workshop that featured in seven production valleys and a total of 150 attending growers.

Special project: Nitrogen Management and minimum tillage

This project aimed at clarifying the degree to which nitrogen is lost in cotton production due to leaching of nitrate beyond the root zone. This involved assessing losses under different soil types and stubble management practices. Recent research has highlighted a disturbing picture with significant nitrate leaching occurring the minimal tillage systems. Leaching associated with conventionally and minimal tillage (standing stubble) systems were compared. In addition, an assessment of nitrogen loss under a ‘once off’ or ‘split application’ was also assessed.

This project followed on from the proposal CSP98C ‘Development and field testing of micro-computer cotton management packages’ which aimed to support the development of CottonLOGIC and other computerised decision support systems (DSS); validate them in the field; and to provide training and support. It also complemented another project funded by the CRDC CSP106C ‘Enhancing development, support and evaluation of computerised decision support’ which aimed to provide additional programming and support capabilities and to evaluate the impact and nature of use of computerised decision support in the Australian Cotton Industry

Cotton growers are facing increasing 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 have been developed to provide cotton growers with the best information available from research to assist with their management decision making. CottonLOGIC is now available to assist growers and their advisers in pest management; crop nutrition; insect species identification; plant mapping; growth regulation; spray ordering and notification; and management of INGARD® cotton. Underlying these functions is a powerful database for storing crop management information and an end of season report generator.

At the start of this project the number of registered copies distributed to the industry had risen to over 900. CottonLOGIC had also become an industry benchmark for pest management and was recommended in the industry’s Best Management Practice guidelines. In addition to this the software had gained significant recognition for its quality and usefulness by winning prestigious awards for excellence in Australian agriculture software and technology transfer in the IT industry. This proposal was to build on the success of CottonLOGIC and develop new decision tools to meet the current and future needs of the industry.

The renewed interest in non-irrigated cotton production in recent years led us to undertake co-operative cultivar trials, commencing in 1981/82. There were considerable differences in opinion on the types of cultivars required with much media speculation about the desirability of Texan short season types. Yet , as reported at the Goondiwindi and Toowoomba grower conferences , our preliminary results suggested full season varieties did better under Australian conditions.

The short season cotton breeding program at Narrabri is continuing to make good progress in developing early maturing cultivars adapted to Australian conditions.

This travel sponsorship funded the attendance of the researcher to present "Connectivity, Capability and Trust" as a guest speaker at the 2018 Australian Cotton Industry conference at the Gold Coast to an industry audience of over 1800 persons.

In 1985 one of the main questions asked by growers was "How does Deltapine 90 and Siokra compare with Deltapine 61?". Now in 1986, the questions is "How does Deltapine 90 compare with Siokra?".

I have been asked to discuss two features of the CSIRO cotton breeding work at Narrabri. The first concerns the quality. criteria we use, the second the role that biotechnology will play in varietal improvement.

firstly canvassed growers on their experiences with Siokra. Most said that weeds were no more difficult to control in Siokra than in Deltapine 90. Both varieties, but especially Siokra, rated highly for their good germination and vigorous seedling growth. However, a few farmers found that Siokra had more weeds than did 90, and occasionally an extra cultivation or herbicide application was given. Yet one well-known Downs grower publicly stated that vigorous weeds like thornapple were easier to spot in Siokra, and this was (another!) good feature of the variety. On balance then I won't differentiate between the two varieties for cost of weed control.

This document provides and overview of design and functionality of the Cotton Best Management Practices eBMP project. This project has arisen from a number of opportunities for improvement in the implementation of the Cotton Industry’s Best Practices program (BMP). These are to;

 Develop cost effective ways of distributing updates to the BMP manual content.

 Enable industry staff to have access to an ‘electronic’ auditing system for conducting Pre-certification assessment, Certification assessment and;

 Allow cotton growers, managers the ability to conduct their annual self assessment declarations ‘electronically’.

 Better link BMP to research

 Monitor Practice Change

WHAT IS EBMP?

eBMP is a system for relevant stakeholders to implement the cotton industry’s best management practices program. The BMP program is underpinned by best practice research and as such the system has the ability to interact and integrate this research to make it available to the user. The eBMP system allows the relevant stakeholders to fulfil the auditing requirements of the BMP program as well as have then ability to monitor practice change within the industry.

EBMP – USERS

The eBMP system has a range of users, these are;

 Cotton Grower

 Cotton Australia Grower Services Managers

 Best Management Practices (BMP) Implementation Officers

 Researchers

 Other interested industry people

 The public