This Overview has been compiled after talking with a limited number of growers from most districts, and as could be expected there were some opposite opinions expressed.

Conference Cover

The actual decision regarding which seed variety to plant had to be made some months -ago by growers through CSD, this decision is mostly based upon a number of factors, viz: 1: Yield 2: Resistance to insects and dise

AUSTRALIAN COTTON CONFERENCE ACGRA 1988 members , Agenda , 1988

Determination of the petiole nitrate nitrogen concentration (PNN) in the youngest fully expanded leaf (YFEL) of cotton is a useful indicator of plant nitrogen status.

The major Australian cotton yarn spinners are encouraged by the improvements the researchers and the growers have managed to obtain in the newer varieties.

Well to satisfy everyones's curiosity, r will answer the question straight away. Yes, we can survive resistance! However, in answering it, I shall put another, perhaps even more thought provoking than the first.

There are increasing areas of cotton grown in regions which are prone to cool seasons, eg. the Darling Downs, the upper Namoi and upper Macquarie valleys.

As major pests of cotton production, Heliothis spp. are of most concern to growers during the summer when they are active and damaging crops. Once autumn arrives and the crop is picked, Heliothis are soon forgotten.

The Cotton Council has been funding our project, for which we intend to identify cotton varieties with efficiency of dry matter production when irrigation is expensive, or relatively inexpensive.

It is now two years since we advi sed the previous conference on the progress of the trials so will take this opportunity for a further update.

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, ranks second to Heliothis in importance as a pest of cotton. Mites reduce profitability by reducing the yield and fibre quality of cotton.

Yield responses to increasing amounts of irrigation water have been demonstrated in the past by individual trials. In these trials watering occured at varying deficits of soil moisture below field capacity .

Four cotton breeding programs have been operating in Australia, three i n New South Wales and one in Queensland .

As most of you are aware, the Siratac Cotton Management Advisor computer program is being rewritten. There will be those amongst you who are unaware as to why this is being done.

The objective of the cotton breeding programme is to breed cultivars which are adapted to central Queensland environments.

Most, if not all, entomologists involved in the development of cotton insect management systems agree that an essent1al part of a successful Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program is the ava;lability of an eff1cac1o

Irrigation scheduling in cotton using the water balance program WATERSCHED has been the subject of an extension development project in Queensland for two years. The project is funded by Cotton Research Council.

Currently in Australia there are approximately 700 cotton germplasm accessions located with CSIRO, QDPI and a few private seed companies.

Insecticides can poison insects in many ways. Insecticides r...:an interfere with metabolic processes , of energy production, cuticular growth and hormone production.