With increasing focus on water used in agriculture and continued pressure to maximise efficiency within cotton irrigated systems, this project aimed to improve understanding of irrigation management within emerging sy

This project has advanced the use of soil and tissue testing such that growers and advisors are now better able to optimise fertiliser use and have greater confidence in their management practices to provide sound nut

I attended the International Cotton Genomics Initiative meeting in Brazil on 18,19, 20 September, 2006. I replaced Curt Brubaker who, because he had left CSIRO, was unable to attend.

Fusarium wilt of cotton is caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (Fov).

Regular disease surveys have highlighted the changing status of cotton diseases over time and

provided valuable insights into the factors affecting their distribution and severity.

This project evaluated options for selective control of aphids, studied the field epidemiology of cotton bunchy top disease and determined the suitability of relay crops for aphid pest management.

This project combined two projects previously supported by the CRDC and one by the Cotton CRC that contributed to the development of decision tools for the cotton industry.

Fusarium wilt continues to be an important constraint to sustainable cotton production. This project had a number of objectives to obtain data to improve the management of this disease.

On 21st November, at Narrabri, over forty Workshop participants,

mostly ginners, developed and discussed the following introductory

Best Management Practice for the Australian Cotton Ginning

Transgenic cotton has proved to be valued by Australian cotton growers and over 80% of all cotton grown is Bollgard II.

Despite its widespread occurrence, the genetics of fusarium wilt resistance in cotton has still not been clearly elucidated.

Note: this project supported the operation of a fibre quality laboratory at ACRI to service most research projects. Specific details on fibre quality results are listed in those project reports.

Black root rot, caused by Thielaviopsis basicola, is a significant disease threat to cotton, especially in cooler areas and seasons.

Provide a one page Summary of your research that is not commercial in confidence, and that can be published on the World Wide Web.

12 Main recommendations were made in consultation with panel and research institutes around the major future challenges for the cotton industry. These included:

*Drought and reduced research funding

An efficient and world standard computing system at ACRI has benefited all research

Black root rot, caused by Thielaviopsis basicola, is a significant disease threat to cotton, especially in cooler areas and seasons.

The 13th Australian Cotton Conference in August 2006 provided an excellent 'showcase' to

enhance the outputs from CRDC funded research to the industry. The largest gathering of

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important symbiotic partners to the majority of land plants. AMF depend on the plant community for photosynthate-derived energy.

I fully appreciate the opportunity I have had to participate in such a Program and

hence I extend my thanks to my sponsors, Cotton Research and Development