A growth disorder of cotton has been observed in irrigated cracking clay soils in fields at Galathera Creek, north of the Australian Cotton Research Institute (ACRI) for several years. The condition has since been found at other sites. Affected plants were stunted and grew slowly during the first half of the season and yielded poorly. Growth of stunted plants improved in mid-season but too late for substantial recovery of yield. Yield showed little or no improvement when P and Zn fertilisers were applied. Preliminary observations suggested that a lack of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (V AM) development may have been adversely affecting cotton nutrition The aim of projects UNE7C and UNEl 7C was to determine the cause of the early season growth disorder (Galathera syndrome) and the role of VAM with regard to growth, development and yield of cotton

The 2021-22 CRDC Researchers' Handbook is a key resource for all researchers working with, or interested in applying for funding from, the CRDC. Updated annually, the Handbook outlines the key information researchers need to know, including key dates, the application process, funding and stipends available, the payment, evaluation and reporting processes and the CRDC’s intellectual property policy. These, and other critical details needed by researchers are provided in the Handbook.

In Australia, management of cotton pests is insecticide based. Beneficial insects are neglected due to the disruptive impact of the insecticides, lack of techniques to maximise their abundance and effectiveness and also lack of ecological diversity in Australian cotton systems which are monoculture and militate against beneficial arthropods. Studies to develop a control strategy for early season pests on cotton which has minimal effect on natural enemies commenced in July 1992 until June 1995. These studies showed that provision of supplementary food through Envirofeast spray can attract, conserve and augment naturally-ocurring predatory insects, including transverse, three-banded, twospotted ladybird beetles, red and blue beetle, big-eyed bug, damsel bug and green lacewings. These insects are natural enemies of cotton pests especially Helicoverpa spp. However, thiodicarb and endosulfan which were previously known to the industry to be "soft" on beneficial insects were shown in this study to significantly reduce predatory insect numbers. Interplanting of luceme, as strips within cotton farms, served as a trap crop or sink for early season cotton pests such as green mirids and as refugia for predatory insects. Green mirids and predatory insects on cotton can be effectively sampled using Dvac. The integration of Envirofeast and the lucerne/cotton interplant (i.e. refugia technology) into a pest management system eliminated the need for early season synthetic insecticide sprays and reduced total synthetic insecticide sprays per season by 60 per cent. Envirofeast product unfortunately is not rainfast and production technology needs to be developed to produce the product in large quantities for commercial use. With resistance of Helicoverpa spp. to insecticides increasing, and the possibility that insect resistance will be a major problem even with transgenic cotton, the control strategy developed in this study should be integrated with transgenic cotton to sustain future cotton production.

Project Objective: To provide the basis for improved crop and soil management in dryland cotton production systems by: 1. monitoring on-farm performance of cotton-based dryland cropping systems; 2. using on-farm data to prove the creditability of our simulation models; 3. with growers and consultants, using the models to determine production strategies for cropping systems that include cotton that are both profitable and sustainable.

The Autumn 2023 edition of Spotlight looks at the rollout of the WAND spray hazard warning system, plus new research into helping prevent human rights abuses in our supply chain, and the development of CRDC's new Strategic RD&E Plan.

The roll out of WAND represents CRDC's commitment to invest in technology to give crop managers in cotton and grains another powerful tool in the arsenal of best practice. WAND gives users another level of due diligence and a commitment to best practice spray application.

Due diligence doesn’t just apply to spray drift, nor is it just confined to on farm – it’s something the cotton industry needs to consider throughout the entire supply chain, and across issues like human rights abuses. CRDC’s taken a lead role through research to explore how Australian growers can help curb human rights abuses in value chains that handle their fibre. It’s a new way of thinking about where the Australian cotton industry’s responsibilities start and end, by looking downstream all the way from farms to the consumer.

On the home front, consultation is about to start with growers around a model for native vegetation management. It is part of the process to create targets for the Australian cotton industry’s Sustainability Framework PLANET. PEOPLE. PADDOCK.

PLANET. PEOPLE. PADDOCK also helps underpin the new CRDC Strategic RD&E Plan for 2023-28, which is currently being developed. It’s an exciting time for CRDC and cotton research, with a bold, ambitious new plan being built around the theme of ‘clever cotton’. A snapshot of the proposed plan is included in this edition.

The cotton industry has a reputation of being forward thinking, generous with knowledge, encouraging and inclusive. The same can (largely) be said for the reality and perception of the role and value of women in the industry. Women who are both farm based and involved in the industry, whether it is in a professional and engagement capacity, are generally well represented and well engaged.

The Cotton Research and Development Corporation, through Wincott, undertook this project to better

understand the roles and contribution women make to all facets of the cotton industry. Four points of contact, resulting in a sample size of 298, were used to understand the role, level of engagement and interests of women working in both farm based and industry roles. The demographic of women is varied with ages ranging from students less than 20 years to retirees over 65 ranging from North Queensland to the Victoria border along the eastern coast of Australia. In general, women are highly educated, and juggle many concurrent roles – with varying percentage of their “professional” time spent in a cotton business.

This project quantified the valuable contribution women make to all facets of farm based and industry

businesses; with specific focus on “business” and “people” areas, and to a lesser extent, “production” and “industry” areas. There are many factors or barriers that impact the contribution women make to both their business and the industry at large, none more than the many and varied roles they hold concurrently in their lives leading to a genuine competition for time to commit. Roles outside the core cotton business, lack of confidence, experience, skills and knowledge are lesser barriers to engagement. While half of all women are interested in increasing their level of engagement, most are happy with their current role. The reality of the fore-mentioned barriers makes change unrealistic for most respondents.

Consistent with being time poor, women find the most efficient and effective way to receive information is electronically. Face to face activities that deliver technical information to improve business or life will be prioritised based on need. Similarly social or networking activities are more valuable with delivery of technical information.

Many roles women hold are those which are “assumed” rather than “chosen”. To this end, there is a strong appetite for personal and professional development around the areas women are already involved in such as business and finance. There is also an interest in production related information so women can better understand and be more involved in conversation that happens “in the paddock”. Consistent with confidence and experience being a barrier to engagement, there is strong interest in improving interpersonal skills; such as communication, leadership and public speaking.

This report demonstrates that women involved in the cotton industry generally feel accepted and engaged, but are always looking for growth and change and a creative and efficient way to “do things better”.

In this edition of Spotlight we outline some of CRDC's landmark research and development (R&D) investments that are addressing major challenges in the cotton industry, including spray drift and textile waste. The spray hazard warning system towers – now known as WAND towers – are now up and running in Queensland. The towers represent six years of planning, research and collaboration between the cotton and grains industries, chiefly the team at GRDC, to help reduce the instance and minimise the impact of drift. The WAND network, which is being delivered by Goanna Ag, represents the single largest investment in CRDC history. During the R&D phase, GRDC and CRDC-supported researchers developed the first and only reliable and accurate method to determine when hazardous inversions are present. This is a major development and is indicative of what we can achieve when we work together. WAND is now operational in QLD and is being rolled out in NSW: we encourage all growers and spray contractors to connect to WAND today. CRDC is also ramping up its investment in textile waste projects to ensure cotton can play its part in closing the circularity loop. With Cotton Australia, CRDC has a mandate through the PLANET. PEOPLE. PADDOCK Sustainability Framework to create a more sustainable industry, and at the same time, this research is also potentially creating a feedstock for growers to return to their fields. The involvement of growers is vital to testing the process: Scott Morgan of Gunnedah has come on board this season, with Sam Coulton of Goondiwindi continuing on from last season. The circularity R&D has a natural fit with research into soil health and the holistic management of soil as the largest living organism on the planet.