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Insect resistant GM cotton, which controls caterpillars of {
 , the main pest of
cotton, has reduced insecticide use by 80 per cent. Ironically, reduced insecticide use
against {
  has allowed other pests to survive and emerge as important pests.
CSIRO Plant Industry is looking at these emerging pests, including aphids, mirids, thrips
and jassids to improve our management strategies.
Ô
  
Ôphids are now occurring earlier in the season. With our collaborators we are identifying
the amount of damage they cause and ways to reduce yield loss and insecticide use by
researching:

y better sampling techniques and better aphid thresholds

y plant hosts that aphids use, other than cotton, and ways to manage them
y key aphid predators and parasites
y insecticide resistance in aphids (with Qld DPI&F)
y some new fungal bio-pesticides (with NSW DPI)
y if aphids on cotton all come from one particular host plant or many (with NSW DPI and
French National Research Institute for Ôgricultural Research).

Results will be included in the CottonLOGIC computer program to help growers manage
aphids.
We are also studying the disease Cotton Bunchy Top (CBT), a disease transmitted by
aphids, to:
y develop a tool to predict its spread
y identify alternative hosts of the disease and how to manage them
y breed CBT resistant cotton varieties.
u    
Mirids are also occurring later in the season now. We know fibre quality is not affected
by mirids but we want to determine the effect of mirids on older plants, particularly how
they compensate for boll damage to determine potential yield loss.
We have been evaluating different mirid sampling techniques to identify accurate mirid
numbers to help growers decide which technique to use and when to control mirids.
Our mirid research data also ends up in CottonLOGIC to update mirid thresholds and to
help growers determine mirid control.
 

     
Thrips feed on cotton leaves and damage the upper leaves. Recently thrips have become
more abundant late in the cotton season. We are investigating the effect of late damage to
plants on yield and fibre quality. Thrips also eat the eggs of spider mites, which can cause
significant yield loss, so balancing potential thrips damage against their benefit is
important.
 assids feed on the upper surface of leaves causing white dots that can reduce
photosynthesis. Recently jassid numbers have been higher, especially late in the cotton
season. By using real and simulated jassid damage we are determining any yield loss and
when control might be required.
Other pests being observed to gauge their status include:
y green vegetable bug
y cotton stainer
y cotton harlequin bug.
Ê                   
Insecticides may reduce numbers of beneficial insects that help control pests, or
encourage secondary pests not controlled by the insecticide.
Our research is evaluating these non-target effects. The results are published yearly in a
guide for cotton growers to help them manage insecticide use.
Ê            u    
There are no significant effects of GM cotton on non-target species, including beneficials
or those involved in breaking down plant residues after harvest.
However, some cotton growers have noted more spider mites in GM crops. We suspect
this is probably due to the different insecticides used in GM crops. We are investigating if
such differences are real and if so if they are due to different insecticide use patterns or to
other factors. The research is continuing in collaboration with CSIRO Entomology.
         u  
 
Integrated pest management (IPM) manages pests using a wide range of methods:
y plant resistance to the pests
y destruction of over-winter food sources
y management of over winter forms
y use of trap crops
y tolerance of non-economic damage
y effective sampling and pest control thresholds
y insecticides (as a last resort).
Our IPM research is available to help growers in the µIntegrated pest management
guidelines for cotton production in Ôustralia¶