by Donald Turner
Staff writer
COTTON Communications Pty Ltd

Australian cotton growers will meet representatives of Monsanto in Sydney this Wednesday to discuss the price of Bollgard II cotton, amid debate about the impact of GM cotton on fibre quality.

Growers will be represented by members of the Australian Cotton Industry Council Pesticides and Biotechnology Committee. They include committee chairman Bruce Finney, newly appointed ACGRA chairman Glenn Fresser, and former Cotton Australia chairman Charlie Wilson.

Dr Greg Constable, Program Leader, CSIRO Cotton Research Unit, says neither variety nor Ingard can be solely blamed for high micronaire in the past two seasons.

Trends with micronaire in the past 18 years for old control varieties DP16 and Namcala show that climate and management have had a strong influence on high micronaire in the past two seasons.

"Ingard varieties (and likely Bollgard II) have had higher micronaire under low Helicoverpa pressure -- possibly because of crop setting pattern (no top crop)," Dr Constable says.

Choice ahead

Growers will have the choice of four Bollgard II varieties from CSD in the coming season and eight to ten the following season, says CSD general manager Adam Kay.

He says that despite concerns about fibre quality this season, any varieties showing deficiencies will be dropped in CSIRO's stringent selection process.

Early data from more than 50 Bollgard II trials this season indicates generally strong performances in both yield and quality criteria, Mr Kay says.

Monsanto cotton business manager Roger Boyce says Monsanto has been encouraged by early indications of the efficacy of the two different insect-control genes in Bollgard II, with reports now common of crops requiring no sprays for heliothis.

"I think everyone understands the technology a bit better this time around," he says.

"We see Bollgard II as an opportunity to remove variables in production brought about by heliothis, so growers can focus more on crop management."

Mr Wilson, who grew Bollgard II on his farm east of Emerald, noted that it required no sprays for heliothis during the season, while jassids late in the season were easily controlled.

"We have work to do in learning to grow Bollgard II, but I think the rewards are there for growers," he says.

Grower experience

One such challenge is management of higher early fruit loads in hotter areas, compared with conventional cotton in which tipping out helps to manage fruit load.

"We need to bring any water deficit down in the first and second irrigations, otherwise the crop starts to shut down. This happened to some of ours this year -- we got a huge fruit load early, which made the crop start to shut down by Christmas," says Mr Wilson.

"Still, we can't be forever blaming Monsanto and the seed companies. This technology is a way to move forward."

Glenn Fresser agrees. "There is a lot of risk management out there at present with regard to Bollgard II. We have learned to manage Ingard and it is showing good value for money, but we are about to lose it. It's important that the transition takes place as quickly as possible for resistance management reasons."

Speaking as chairman of the Australian Cotton Growers Research Association, Mr Fresser warns that lower production this season will have an impact on research funding priorities.