Integrated Pest Management Pays Off
For Australian Cotton Farmers


"Integrating pest management as a group is paying off in improved profit margins for Australian cotton growers. More growers are combining the disciplines of integrated pest management (IPM) programs with area-wide management groups for mutual benefit. Mark Norman, pictured, who is chairman of the East Goondiwindi grower group in the Macintyre Valley, believes area-wide management is one of the main factors in successful IPM programs. Integrated pest management encourages growers to make use of natural predators by delaying or eliminating applications of broad-spectrum sprays such as pyrethroids and organophosphates. The success of these programs often hinges on co-operation between neighbouring farms, where pesticide drift from one farm may eliminate beneficial insects on a neighbouring farm. 'We have been able to achieve that this year,' says Mark. 'We noticed that in taking the softer approach, our beneficials lasted a lot longer than in previous years.'  The East Goondiwindi group has benefited from a consistent approach to pest management, because all three farms have used the same consultant, presently Cotton Consultants Australia president Iain MacPherson. Proof of the pay-off from IPM came with the group's entry last year to the Boggabilla benchmarking survey conducted by Chris Wicks of Toowoomba-based consultants Fisher & Wicks. Data was analysed from more than 150 fields in the group. Says Mark: 'This gave us a lot of confidence that fields with the softest approach are winning, because the base costs on our soft programs are saving money against our hard programs, and we are not losing yield.' The results of this survey, and others like it, encourage those who believe sustainable cotton production depends on the extension of this management approach....'What these surveys are showing is that there doesn't seem to be much relationship between yield and dollars spent on pest management,' says Bruce Pyke, research and extension manager for the Cotton Research and Development Corporation. 'When you compare IPM fields with conventional management, IPM is coming out in front by up to a few hundred dollars per hectare...'."
IPM pays off for team players
Cotton World, 27 April 2001


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Story6 - Thu 10 May 2001

IPM pays off for team players

Fri 27 Apr 2001 - Staff writer: Donald Turner story1


INTEGRATING pest management as a group is paying off in improved profit margins for Australian cotton growers.

More growers are combining the disciplines of integrated pest management (IPM) programs with area-wide management groups for mutual benefit.



Mark Norman, pictured, who is chairman of the East Goondiwindi grower group in the Macintyre Valley, believes area-wide management is one of the main factors in successful IPM programs.

Integrated pest management encourages growers to make use of natural predators by delaying or eliminating applications of broad-spectrum sprays such as pyrethroids and organophosphates.

The success of these programs often hinges on co-operation between neighbouring farms, where pesticide drift from one farm may eliminate beneficial insects on a neighbouring farm.

In the case of Warendi, which Mark Norman manages for Rogate Farms, practising IPM is difficult without the co-operation of neighbours because it is at the end of a row of three farms and subject to prevailing winds.

"We have been able to achieve that this year," says Mark. "We noticed that in taking the softer approach, our beneficials lasted a lot longer than in previous years."

The East Goondiwindi group has benefited from a consistent approach to pest management, because all three farms have used the same consultant, presently Cotton Consultants Australia president Iain MacPherson.

Proof of the pay-off from IPM came with the group's entry last year to the Boggabilla benchmarking survey conducted by Chris Wicks of Toowoomba-based consultants Fisher & Wicks. Data was analysed from more than 150 fields in the group.

Says Mark: "This gave us a lot of confidence that fields with the softest approach are winning, because the base costs on our soft programs are saving money against our hard programs, and we are not losing yield."

The results of this survey, and others like it, encourage those who believe sustainable cotton production depends on the extension of this management approach.

"What these surveys are showing is that there doesn't seem to be much relationship between yield and dollars spent on pest management," says Bruce Pyke, research and extension manager for the Cotton Research and Development Corporation.

"When you compare IPM fields with conventional management, IPM is coming out in front by up to a few hundred dollars per hectare.

"That would indicate IPM is worth tackling, and some of the area-wide groups are tackling it in a very good way by deciding to delay broad-spectrum sprays. Some have taken on very challenging objectives in trying to eliminate these sprays, but generally they delay their use."

Another positive development of the IPM effort is that growers report increased efficacy from broad-spectrum sprays when they are used eventually. "This is saying something about Heliothis (the principle cotton pest) in those fields," says Bruce. "Perhaps it is a local population of Heliothis that we are producing for the bulk of the cotton season."

Meanwhile, Mark Norman expects to average 3.3 to 3.4 bales per acre from the present crop, depending on turnout.

About half of Warendi was planted to Sicot varieties -- 189, 189 Roundup Ready®, and 289 INGARD® -- noted for tolerance to Fusarium wilt.

"Being at the eastern end of the Macintyre Valley it was thought 189 was more of a long-season variety, compared with say, Sicala 40."

But indeterminant cotton varieties -- including the Sicots -- coped better in a season of extreme weather conditions in many valleys. Mark says 189 also coped better in the IPM system.

"We find we accept more early-season damage to the crop from pests so it is quite tipped out.

"But we don't believe in the perfect plant -- my vision of the perfect plant is about three main stems going out from some early tipping out. The 189 seems to handle that well, whereas more determinant varieties don't respond to that kind of management."


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