This is a Cotton Research and Development Corporation funded three year project toconsider the follong areas and address the issues developed below.Aims:To continue and develop the work begun in the existing project which focuses on residue handling in back to back cotton and rotation crops while optimising the control of diapausing heliothis pupaeTo visit growing areas (irrigated and rainfed) and confirm a basis for other machitiery needs in the industry, including planting and cultivation equipmentField test equipment changesSeek backing from commercial entities to limit funding drain of research moneysPursue the involvement of commercial manufacturers where appropriate to help in the adoption of improved technology.To monitor commercialisation of a fully tested computer based guidance system

Controlling heliothine caterpillars presents an ever greater challenge for the Australian cotton industry. The bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, creates especial problems by evolving resistance to most major chemical insecticides. Chemical insecticides are furthermore associated with environmental dangers and increased production costs due to the need to overcome resistance.

Crop rotations, including wheat and sorghum, can provide stubble cover to protectthe soil while cotton is establishing. Controlled traffic layouts have the potential to evenly distribute runoff over the field and prevents concentrations in rill lines. Associated with controlled traffic, minimum tillage and soil compaction control can increase infiltration and reduce runoff. An experiment was established in 1993 to study the impacts of controlled traffic, using a bed and furrow system, on runoff and soil loss.

Cotton fibres are differentiated from single cells of the outer epidermis of ovules and originate at, or soon after, anthesis (Ramsey and Berlin, 1976). Cotton fibre differentiation, characterised by a precise and synchronous growth and uncomplicated by cell division, is a suitable experimental system in which to study cellular and developmental events. In addition, the commercial desirability of long fibres has stimulated studies of the factors involved in controlling the extent of fibre growth. The main aim of this project was to isolate and characterise cDNA clones of mRNAs which are specific to, or important in, cotton fibre development.

Tile green mirid, Creontiades dilutus (Stal) is one of the early season pests of cotton. This insect was identified in the late 1970's and can cause considerable damage to cotton seedlings and squares resulting in significant delays in growth and maturity of the plant (Bishop 1980; Adams and Pyke, 1982). Currently green minds are suppressed by synthetic insecticide sprays targeted for the control of Helicoverpa spp. in commercial cotton. With the proposed introduction of Bt cotton, green mirids are going to be very important since chemical sprays against Helicoverpa spp. Are expected to be reduced (Fitt, pers. communication). Despite the importance of the green mirid within the Australian cotton industry, there is no detailed information on the life cycle and general biology of this insect. A detailed biological information can provide a basis for ecological studies and the development of a sustainable pest control system. We report here the life cycle, oviposition behaviour, and the pest status of the green mind.

In developing a water management plan, f m water use efficiency can be broken down into three segments - plant, agronomic and irrigation efficiency. This paper will briefly discuss important aspects which can effect plant water use but mainly concentrate on water management efficiencies (agronomic and irrigation fallow efficiency). Topics relevant to both irrigation and dryland cotton production are discussed

After three years of the joint research program, a system of best management practices was identified as the best way of achieving the second and third goals. It was therefore decided to create a user friendly, practical manual for cotton farmers that contains the best management practices available so as to minimise the impact of pesticides on the riverine environment (for example, by minimising the transport of pesticides off farm).

This project sets out to address some of the problems associated with growing dryland cotton using reduced and notillage practices, and look for possible solutions which will allow cotton to be integrated into sustainable farming systems for these important production areas.

Australian isolates of Fov have been characterised by using: pathogenicity tests with differential and local cotton lines ; vegetative compatibility groups (VCG) analyses and DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF) analysis. Vegetative compatibility groups and DNA fingerprints of overseas isolates of the fungus have also been compared with those of Australian isolates of Fov.

The purpose of this work is to develop a technique for standard quantitative soil structural assessment using horizontal image analysis. The SOLICON (Moran et al., l 989a) soil structure evaluation system has been developed further to enable horizontal soil sections to be analysed and classified. Using this new system, SOLICON 2, images of soil collected from the field can be measured and classified in relation to a library of structures. This computer aided system involves the collection, processing, analysis and classification of images that represent the field condition of the soil pore structure in specific horizons.