High temperature stress adversely affects the growth, development and ultimately yield of cotton.

Our people resource in Australia's Agricultural industries is continuing to decline. We need to recognise that we are going to have to do more with less.

, While the cotton industry and irrigated agriculture as a whole has been battered by the continuing drought, industry leaders are looking to the future.

The purpose of this paper is twofold.

When I first received the brief from Brendon, "Young Leaders on New Beginnings for the Cotton Industry" my first thoughts were, why did I say yes.

Many cotton growers are concerned that relying too heavily on Roundup (glyphosate) will lead to future problems with weeds becoming resistant to this herbicide.

During the recent drought that affected much of Australia, particularly in Queensland and New South Wales, the volume of containerised imports through the Port of Brisbane increased significantly.

It is increasingly recognised that the future of the Australian Cotton Industry is inextricably linked to parameters of 'permissible practice' as defined by the broader community.

The results of annual disease surveys in both NSW and Queensland continue to provide useful data on the distribution, incidence and importance of diseases of cotton in Australia.

What do consumers want from Textiles & how does this relate to cotton?

Maize or corn (Zea mays) is becoming increasingly popular as a summer crop in irrigated cotton rotations.

The rise of ground water and salinity persist as potential challenging issues across irrigated agricultural landscapes.

Summary * Pest managers were surveyed to benchmark mirid management practices * Many mirid sprays were applied when mirids were below threshold and fruit retention was high (>85%).

Knowing how you are performing compared to your region or industry, facilitates continuous improvement in management and water use. Unfortunately irrigation benchmarking data has in the past not been well recorded.

The current global food crisis mainly affects the poorest billion citizens on Earth.

I am going to talk about the changes in the global textile industry over the past few years.

Discussion with Darling Downs growers and consultants identified a lack of local quantitative results on the response of current Bollgard varieties to different irrigation deficits.

With the introduction of Transgenic Bollgard II cotton Australian populations of green mirid have required targeted insecticidal control, which may select for insecticide resistance in this pest.

While the southern valleys of NSW present a great opportunity for expansion of the cotton industry, they also present unique challenges from a plant disease perspective.

In Australia, about 85% of cotton farmers grows transgenic (Bt) cotton. Bt cotton controls only Lepidopteran pests but is not effective against sucking pests. Control of these pests and also b Helicoverpa spp.