Cotton researchers in Central Queensland have accepted the challenge to unlock the high yield potential of November-planted genetically-modified cultivars to maximise the use of in-crop summer rain.
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) principal research scientist Dr Richard Sequeira said a decade of unreliable irrigation water availability had led to an industry call to investigate greater production flexibility using the agronomic benefits of planting genetically-modified Bollgard II Roundup Ready cotton.
Dr Sequeira said there was no doubt that genetically-modified cotton could be planted later than the enforced September 15 to October 30 (42-day) planting window but until now there had been no Central Queensland crop performance benchmarks to compare quality, yield or profitability.
The Irrigated Cotton Farming Systems project has now entered its third year based on four-mid-monthly plantings of the full season transgenic variety Sicot 71 BR across 52 hectares at the Australian Agricultural College Corporation's Emerald Campus.
'Our trials show that September-October planted cotton returns the most consistent yields ranging from 9 to 9.7 bales/ha for the 2005-06 and the 2006-07 seasons,' Dr Sequeira said.
'The same cannot be said for November and December-sown irrigated cotton where results suggest November-planted crops in particular have good yield potential but the trial yields ranged from a low 5.4 bales to 8.5 bales/ha for the two seasons.
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