Greg Constable,

1
RD to address sustainability issues in the
Australian cotton industry

• Greg Constable,
• CSIRO Plant Industry, Narrabri

2
Cotton RD structure

• Research
• CSIRO
• State Departments of Agriculture
• Universities
• Cotton RD Corporation
• Research funds from levy on production
• Australian Cotton Growers Research Association
• Australian Cotton Industry Council

Cooperative Research Centre
3
Sustainability issues

• Soil
• Structure
• Biology
• Fertility
• Salinity
• Pesticide dependence
• Insects
• Weeds
• Water

And impact of all of these on the environment
4
Overview

• The cotton production system has been constantly
  evolving in all areas
• Weed
• Water
• Soil
• Disease
• Insect

The total system package includes a spectrum from
biotechnology to machinery
5
The Australian cotton industry

• Sixth largest producer third largest exporter
• Price driven by US, China, AUD/US
• Value of production 1.2-1.6 billion
• Dryland and Irrigated (90)
• Produced from 500,000ha

6
WEEDS

• Integrated Weed Management
• Rotation
• Cultivation
• Herbicides
• Hand chipping
• RR cotton (45)

7
Roundup Ready statistics
reduction v conventional

• Pre plant residual herbicides 34
• Planting herbicides 30
• Knockdown herbicides 21
• Over-the-top selective herbicides 69
• Layby residual herbicides 2.2
• Cultivation 28
• Manual hand hoeing 58

8
WATER

• Perceptions
• Water use efficiency
• Salinity
• Irrigation systems

9
Drought v production
10
Cotton water research

• Irrigation scheduling
• Long term climate analyses
• Surveys of irrigation efficiency
• Irrigation design
• Irrigation systems

11
OUTCOME Water Use Efficiency
Gwydir Valley trend
Water balance studies
12
Farm water delivery/use
?
Drip irrigation Soil type Delivery
Salinity Hydrology
13
SOIL

• Major soil type is a grey cracking clay
• High water holding capacity
• Prone to compaction
• Prone to waterlogging
• Relatively fertile
• Low organic matter
• Sodic at depth

14
Soil research

• Tillage and or crop rotation to maintain good or
  repair poor structure
• Fertilizer diagnosis and management
• Soil biology VAM, diseases
• Salinity modelling soil type, hydrology

15
SOIL management changes

• Rotation wheat and others (70s)
• Tillage min till permanent beds (80s)
• Fertilizer N to N, P, K, gypsum (90s)
• Benefits
• Yield
• Nutrition
• Water use efficiency

irrigation v dryland
Is yield a soil health indicator?
16
Agronomy research

• Plant spacing
• Sowing date
• Growth regulator

• Dryland irrigation
• Rotation soil type
• Region

X
17
Cotton diseases in Australia
More are more disease or more breeding success
18
Pathology research

• Crop management
• disease ecology
• soil biology VAM, disease
• rotation
• Breeding for resistance

19
Insect pests a major challenge

• Cotton is attractive to insects they are
  numerous in Australia
• Helicoverpa spp., other Lepidoptera, mites,
  sucking pests.
• significant constraint on production in many
  regions.
• gt30 of variable costs.

80 of pesticides
20
Why do we seek to develop IPM?

• Environmental issues
• Pesticide contamination of rivers
• Pesticide residues in livestock
• Economic Issues
• Development of resistance
• Cost of new products
• Social Issues
• Use of toxic or high odour chemicals (OHS,
  off-target impacts on health and well-being)
  public perception

21
Pest management research

• Damage thresholds
• Crop compensation for damage
• Host plant resistance
• Soft pesticide options
• Biological control
• Beneficial insects
• Resistance management for
• insecticides
• transgenics

Integrated Pest Management to Area Wide Management
22
Ingard

• Bt gene from Monsanto toxic to Helicoverpa.
• Limit 30 of area - resistance management.
• Six year mean benefit of Ingard over conventional
  77/ha.
• From savings on insecticide costs less Ingard
  license fee (currently 190/ha).
• Bollgard II from 2004 better efficacy and
  substantially improved resistance management.

23
Difference Ingard
Conventional
INGARD
10
9.34
8
6
3.79
4
2
1.23
1.31
0.49
0.5
0.41
0.29
0.34
0.23
0
Helico
Aphids
Mirids
Mites
Thrips
Average 60 reduction in Helicoverpa sprays
24
Integrated Pest Management
25
OUTCOMEInsecticides active ingredient / ha on
cotton
IPM
IPM Ingard
Source CCA Market Audit Survey Data 2003
26
CONSEQUENCEEndosulfan levels in the Namoi River
27
Plant breeding

• Conventional breeding
• Yield and adaptation
• Fibre quality
• Disease resistance
• Host plant resistance
• Biotechnology
• Transgenic varieties (RR, Ingard)
• New traits
• Marker assisted breeding

CSIRO varieties marketed by Cotton Seed
Distributors in Australia and internationally
(FiberMax) including Europe
28
Biotechnology

• Traits to benefit producer, environment (and
  consumer?)
• Regulatory studies
• Gene transfer
• Weediness
• Resistance management

29
Measured variety yield progress
Mean of at least ten sites each year (from
Constable et al 2001)
30
OUTCOME Industry yield progress
Nearly half the increase is due to conventional
breeding
31
Components of yield improvement
Total breeding 45
Considerable research on each topic
32
Extension having good research adopted

• Incentive to change bonus or penalty
• Local Industry Development Officer
• Decision Support Tools
• Written technical manuals
• Web site
• Computer package CottonLOGIC
• EntomoLOGIC
• NutriLOGIC
• HydroLOGIC
• Post Graduate Certificate in cotton production
  delivered at University

33
Conclusion-summary

• System package is changing all the time,
• Main contributors for progress
• Crop rotation soil, water, yield.
• Breeding for disease resistance yield.
• Pest management IPMGMO environment.
• So it is more sustainable but there is more
  RD to do.