CHANGES to Monsanto’s pest resistance management strategy with the introduction of Bollgard III cotton could present huge opportunities for the industry’s growth, particularly in dryland areas and zero till farming.
The technology, which is still to be released, was due to be approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) by the end of 2015, but Monsanto expects Bollgard III cotton to be commercially available for the 2016-17 season.
Bollgard III is an improved version of Bollgard II, which has been grown since 2003 and covers about 95pc of the industry.
One of the major changes to Monsanto’s resistance management plan is modified pupae busting, along with an extended planting window from August to December and a reduction in refuge crops.
Pupae busting, which involves cultivation to a depth of 10 centimetres within four weeks of harvest to destroy any pupae over-wintering, could become a practice of the past.
With Bollgard III, if the crop is defoliated before the end of March, pupae busting won’t be mandatory, but crops defoliated after March will need to be cultivated 30cm either side of the plant.
It’s part of a period of change for the Australian cotton industry, which included the introduction of cotton to southern NSW four years ago.
The region has since flourished, particularly with irrigated cotton, but Bollgard III presents even more opportunities to grow the crop, according to Cotton Australia chief executive officer Adam Kay.
Mr Kay said changes to pupae busting could encourage more summer croppers who would usually grow sorghum to take on cotton.
“We understand why people have been hesitant about moving into cotton and one of the reasons was the obligation to pupae bust,” he said.
“So not having to do that really opens up the doors for a lot of producers who have been put off by the cultivation.”
Cotton Seed Distributors extension and development agronomist Robert Eveleigh said there could be more growers interested in cotton if they don’t have to pupae bust.
“I think we’ll see some of those people who have been sitting on the sidelines who might see cotton as a good opportunity and cotton is a really good competitor for sorghum,” Mr Eveleigh said.
Quirindi agronomist Pete McKenzie said cotton could be an option for Liverpool Plains farmers who would usually plant sorghum, but more work was needed to develop the best crop rotations and row spacings to suit growers in the region.
“Cotton does offer some options for country that has grass problems, but because it uses more moisture as it’s growing in the ground for longer, the following crop generally suffers, so we’re still trying to quantify what that means in terms of economic loss.”
Mr Eveleigh said Bollgard III trials during the past two seasons had resulted in solid yields. Trials have ramped up this season, with about 19,000 hectares being planted.
“In general Bollgard III performed as well as the existing technology and in a lot of cases had better yield,” Mr Eveleigh said.
Mr Kay said the Bollgard III technology added to work done in research and development to better manage insect and weed control and improve varieties to suit Australian conditions.
"Pupae busting is one of the final impediments out of the way for growers, along with improved varieties for dryland growers,” he said.
“This season we have 60,000 green hectares of dryland cotton, which is a good chunk of the 270,000ha crop.
“I think we’re starting to see a lot of people having a small area and getting used to the crop, and they might take on bigger areas when Bollgard III is available.”
