growers@sgcotton.com.au Roger Tomkins - Greenmount Press

expand her editorial work on industry publications and mobile
APPs. Susan will lead production of the annual Pest Management
Guide and the Cotton Production Manual.
Prior to taking on this role, Susan was working with
Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry,
and the Cotton CRC and her appointment with CRDC is a
continuation and expansion of her Biosecurity Specialist role in
the D&D Team. While no longer having a direct regional role,
Susan’s presence in the area will allow her to maintain close
contact with the industry.
As the new CRDC representative to Plant Health Australia
(PHA) Susan says part of her role entails building relationships
within PHA and helping industry to further consider and manage
its biosecurity risks. “This will include building awareness within
the industry of threats and ensuring there are contingencies in
place,” she says. “I’m also really looking forward to another
aspect of my role which is to improve linkages between the D&D
Team and Crop Consultants Australia (CCA). Consultants are on
the ground and are the first to be aware of emerging issues, and
are key partners in the delivery of innovation and research.”
Pathway to fight diseases of cotton
Last season highlighted the communication difficulties that
can occur in coordinating enquiries and responses between
growers, consultants, industry personnel and researchers from
different agencies.
A new web-based communication model named PathWAY
has been launched to assist disease enquiries. PathWAY was
developed by NSW DPI cotton pathologist Dr Karen Kirkby who
has a particular interest in improving communication between
researchers, growers, extension people and stakeholders. Karen
is also a 2012 Future Cotton Leaders participant and says the
skills she learned through the program helped her to develop and
implement the new communication model.
PathWAY works behind the scenes linking a network of cotton
professionals across agencies, borders and funding bodies including
representatives from NSW DPI, CSD, Queensland DAFF, CRDC,
CSIRO and Cotton Australia. It is a transparent model, allowing the
network to see what the latest issues are and who has responded.
The involvement of pathologists, virologists, researchers,
extension people, consultants, and funding body representatives
in PathWAY has been very positive. This collaborative network
facilitates a co-ordinated approach to grower concerns, and
at the same time quantifies disease issues and responses. This
data can then be added to a database where the information is
made available to the wider cotton industry through extension,
publications and new research.
For more information, contact Dr Karen Kirkby 02 6799 2454.
Water story now available
The Australian Cotton Water Story was launched at the recent
Australian Cotton Conference by CRDC Chair Mike Logan,
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay, and CRDC’s Jane Trindall. The
publication documents a decade of progress in irrigation research
and implementation.
Compiled by CRDC the story provides a snapshot of over 80
water research projects, from more than 100 researchers and
quantifies the improvements in water use over the past decade.
Jane Trindall said that huge advances had been made in
irrigation efficiency over the period of the book.
“We have been able to document a 40 per cent improvement
in cotton water productivity, tied to cotton yields that are twoand-a-half
times the world average for quality cotton,” Jane said.
“Other key findings included that 70 per cent of irrigators use
soil moisture probes, up from 40 per cent in 2006, and 62 per
cent of groundwater users regularly monitor water quality, which
is up from 20 per in 2006.”
The book is divided in to chapters which range from “The
Farm”, through to “Wetlands” and from “Water Quality” to
“Groundwater”.
Copies are available by contacting CRDC.
Phil Armytage (Cotton CRC), Mike Logan (CRDC), Adam Kay (Cotton Australia) and Jane Trindall (CRDC) at the launch of the
Australian Cotton Water Story.
6 — The Australian Cottongrower August–September 2012