CSIRO has had a successful cotton breeding program for over 20 years. In 1996, more than 90% of Australia's cotton was sown to varieties derived from the CSRO breeding program.

Groundwater is water that has drained through the soil and accumulated at depth within the deeper subsoil or in bedrock.

There is speculation that current secondary pests of cotton may be more troublesome following the introduction of transgenic cotton.

Water use efficiency is a key issue for the Australian cotton industry. For the individual producer the focus is to maximise returns from a limited resource.

In managing insect pests growers are today faced with increasing insecticide resistance, a lack of new chemistry and increasing production costs.

The green mind, Creontiades dilutes (Stal) (Hemiptera: Miridae), is an important but sporadic pest of cotton which destroys small squares on cotton plants (Pyke and Brown, 1996).

The silverleaf whitefly (SLW) Bemisia tabaci B-biotype is a major problem to cotton growers overseas and is a threat to the cotton industry in Australia.

The efficacy of transgenic, 2,4-D tolerant cotton, developed by CSIRO has been field tested over the past 2 seasons on an irrigated field at Premer, on the Liverpool Plains of NSW.

There is a substantial number of cotton growers who have an active role in and take full responsibility for the pest management of their crop.

Fungal diseases such as Verticillium Wilt, Fusarium wilt and black root rot cause appreciable losses to the Australian cotton industry, particularly in years when environmental conditions favour disease.

Two years ago, the first draft of the Best Management Practices Manual for minimising the impact of Pesticides (&quote;Manual&quote;) had just been released.

It hardly needs to be said that the supply of irrigation water is a major issue for the industry and a major hint to production, and that there are economic and environmental dimensions to the debate about water, whic

Interest amongst cotton growers in incorporating beneficial insects into pest management is at an important stage in its development.

Irrigation with either moderate to highly saline and\or sodic water can create problems within the root-zone.

It is no doubt BMP is the next major challenge facing the cotton industry. We are under increasing scrutiny from governments, their departments and our own communities.

In a broad sense, biocontrol can be defined as the manipulation of a root or soil environment, through non-chemical means, to reduce the activity of pathogens.

Soil organisms (biota) carry out a wide range processes that are important for soil fertility and health in both natural and managed agricultural soils.

The long term production of cotton it the same field often leads to low yields, even with 1:large amounts of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertiliser.

Commercial cotton crops throughout NSW have been surveyed in November and March of each season since 1983 to determine disease distribution, incidence and severity.

Degree days are commonly used by industry and researchers to estimate expected crop development. This assumes that cotton's potential development is largely a function of temperature.