A knowledge of dispersal is essential to an understanding of population control and to the management of insecticide resistance. The Division of Entomology, CSIRO, is undertaking ecological studies and radar observations to quantify dispersal of Heliothis moths at a range of.altitudes over crops. We are interested both in assessing the value of radar in following low-level movement, and in determining the type of population data that need to be collected to interpret observations made by the radar. A preliminary study in the Darling Downs during February 1984 included direct observations of the frequency, magnitude and direction of movement, and indirect assessments of such movements using various types of trapping.

Boggabri cotton grower, Andrew Watson, has shown that with optimal growth rates, a healthy population of beneficial predators and a plant monitoring approach, it is possible to grow a Bollgard II crop without (or with significantly reduced reliance on) insecticides.

South East Queensland farmer Engelbert Krampl first encountered glyphosate resistant barnyard grass in his cropping system in the summer of 2008-09.

This Guide provides you with a comprehensive summary of the key cotton crop protection issues, and is brought to you by the Australian cotton industry's joint extension program, CottonInfo.

The International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE) exists to promote the understanding of interactions between organisms and their environment that are mediated by naturally occurring chemicals. Research areas covered by this include the chemistry, biochemistry and function of natural products, their importance at all levels of ecological organization, their evolutionary origin and their practical application.My particular interest in chemical ecology is in the application of sex pl~cronionesto control Helicoverpa armigera in cotton and other crops.

Currently, the qualities that are being engineered into cotton relate to crop management issues such as insect-resistance (Frutos et al. , 1999), herbicide-tolerance (Schmidt, 1995) and stress- resistance (John and Stewart, 1992). However, in the future the aims are to modify the fibre to introduce new properties or to enhance existing properties such as length, strength and/or fineness in order to produce a more desirable end product. Before this can be accomplished, a fundamental understanding of how the fibre quality traits are biologically regulated must be obtained (John and Stewart, 1992).

The developing cotton fibre is an attractive experimental system because the fibre cells originate and end as a single cell and thus elongation can be studied free from the complications that arise from cell division (Basra and Malik, 1984). Therefore, in addition to its economic importance as a natural textile fibre, the developing cotton fibre is an excellent model system for unravelling the fundamental processes of plant cell growth.

Riparian land is usually the most fertile and productive part of the landscape: providing benefits to both agriculture and the natural environment.

Weather and climate news 13 July 2015

Controlling unwanted cotton in the farming system is an essential part of good integrated pest and disease management.

In August 2014, St George cotton growers took part in their first 'Spring Clean' event, turning the difficult business of disease management into a fun, social day; uniting the community behind the common goal of destroying disease harbouring volunteer cotton plants.