Helicoverpa spp. are arguably Australia’s most important insect pests, costing the

economy $200-300M annually. Significant advances in the management of

Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (Fov), is a serious disease

of cotton in Australia responsible for substantial yield reductions. Since its detection on the

Fusarium wilt disease has the potential to cause significant yield losses and the removal of some areas from cotton production. It is therefore likely to impact on the long-term sustainability of the cotton industry.

Centre Pivot and Lateral Move (CF&LM) irrigation machines are gaining popularity within

the Australian cotton industry, as they can provide high application efficiency and

Cotton fibres are the fastest growing and among the longest single cells in the plant kingdom. In the space of about16 days, these single cells can expand from a few micrometers to 3 cm in length.

Genetic engineering to confer useful agronomic and fibre traits will lower the cost and time

required for producing improved cotton varieties and will promote environmentally-friendly

Taking advantage of a GRDC funded trip to attend the Annual meetings of Soil Science SOC of America held in Indianapolis, I requested CRDC funds to visit laboratories involved in research related to Bt-crops and soil

The CRDC $2000 to put towards attending the 42nd Beltwide Cotton Conference in San

The talks presented at the Beltwide cotton conference which will have the greatest impact on researchers, and the Australian cotton industry as a whole, will be the new transgenic insecticidal packages of MXB-13 from

Salinisation as a consequence of irrigation can occur as a result of the application of poor quality (i.e. saline) water or mobilisation of salts from rising water tables (i.e.

Five sites representing the main cotton growing soil types in the Lower Macquarie Valley were selected and soil sampled in late October and May 2004.

Project Summaries from Postgraduate Visit

McKinnon, Buchanan, Delaney, Dodd, Humphries, Ivkovic, Lightfoot, Lowor, Machado, Najar, Speirs, Vanags, Werth, Whiffen and White

This research project involved the development and application of crop simulation tools to assist with crop management within the cotton industry.

Final Report as participant in the 2004 Australian Rural Leadership Program

The aims of the project were: (1) Use composted cotton gin trash and pelletised cotton gin trash to

monitor soil response and soil nutrition benefits; (2) Establish experimental woodlots of

Cotton production in Central Queensland will continue to impose a unique set of challenges due to climate and it’s remoteness from other production areas.

The current project was devised in the knowledge that increased sodicity and salinity of percolating water will alter the saturated conductivity of many soils, especially sodic soils.

This project investigated how key insect predators contribute to the suppression of the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, in Australian cotton crops and explored the interaction between predator abundance and div

The research into aphid bio-control in cotton has documented the agents attacking cotton aphid in southern and central Queensland, and provided an indication of their relative importance.