'We have an understanding of why the December plantings under-perform as they can be influenced by a shortening season where colder temperatures do not allow fruit to open prior to the June harvest.
'For our November plantings, we are seeing excessive vegetative growth and mid-season fruit loss which presents a plant physiology research challenge to understand what controls the variability of later sown cotton.'
Dr Sequeira said a funding application for continued 2008-2011 research through the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Cotton Catchment Communities CRC and DPI&F, if successful, aimed to fine tune the agronomic inputs.
'Risks associated with later plantings are that flowering and boll set could be subjected to high February rainfall events causing plants to shed fruit and promote vegetative growth,' Dr Sequeira said.
'To enable our research to focus on the physiological responses and agronomic factors that underpin cotton production for later planted cotton in Central Queensland, we have established a pilot project to get an idea of what we are up against.
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Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, Queensland
marketing@alchempro.com
