In March 1995 I attended two Keystone Symposia, "Frontiers of Plant Morphogenesis" and "Signal Transduction in Plants", held concurrently at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S.A.

Cotton fibres are differentiated from single ovule epidermal cells and grow synchronously, initiating at about the time of anthesis.

The cotton plant has two main sets of traits that contribute to its resistance to pests: (1) chemical (e.g. gossypol) and morphological defences (e.g. okra-leaf) and (2) compensatory mechanisms for regrowth (e.g.

This report summarises the findings from the CRDC funded project "Managing soils to avoid compaction problems in cotton growing". The project ran from 1989/90 to 1991192.

Project Objectives: Part A: (i) To study the effect of wet/dry cycles with drying by evaporation alone in ameliorating degraded furrows in retained hill cotton (at the Fressor site).

A growth disorder of cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum) occurs in irrigated cracking clay soils in cotton growing regions of northern New South Wales.

Vertosols are the main soil type on which cotton is grown in Australia. Eighty percent of irrigated cotton is grown in retained hill.

OBJECTIVES: 1. To study sampling and control practices for mirlds in irrigated and dryland cotton.

The conference was held on the 23 - 27th of August, 1994 in Silsoe, UK.

Nitrification inhibitors were successfully used to improve the recovery of fertilizer N in the irrigated cotton-growing system.

The aim of the project, to enable cotton to be grown in experiments in the disciplines of breeding, agronomy and entomology by the CSIRO Cotton Research Unit at the Australian Cotton Research Institute, has been met O

To make the OZCOT cotton crop simulation model more robust and versatile; enabling it to be used for decision support in a broader range of applications and situations. This involved five specific objectives: 1.

In order to obtain information of its environmental fate under conditions of use in the Australian cotton industry, this major study was initiated in 1990-91.

The funds requested in the application were for Dr Christian to spend 6 weeks in the laboratory of Dr Art Mcintosh and Dr Carlo lgnoffo in Columbia Missouri, working on aspects of the project "Genetic Engineering

This project followed on from the production of the SOILpak manual (A soil management package for cracking clays).

Report on Overseas Travel, June-July 1994 Helen McFadden

OBJECTIVES OF VISIT: (i) To attend and present a paper and a poster at the Sixth International Verticillium Symposium, Dead Sea Israel.

A review of findings presented at the 12th Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Medicine and Rural Health

Travel grant: 9th Biennial Conference Australasian Plant Pathology Society

To help coordinate and ensure good collaborative ties between these research groups and to broaden the understanding of soil salinity within the industry, the CRC initiated the development of a Strategic Plan on salin