ABSTRACT

The pathogen that causes Fusarium wilt of cotton can be seed-borne. Although effective fungicide seed treatments were available it was considered preferable to produce disease-free planting seed rather than rely entirely on successful disinfestation or time in storage to eliminate the pathogen. The Australian Cotton Growers Research Association and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation coordinated the establishment of a seed production protocol to formalise current practices and ensure that the Fusarium risk was being consistently managed and to provide an assurance that all possible, practical steps were being taken to minimise the risk of planting seed carrying Fusarium wilt.

The seed production protocol covers Fusarium nurseries, breeder's seed lines, non-Fusarium breeder's sites, commercial seed increase, in-season checks, harvesting and ginning. The protocol was endorsed by the Australian Cotton Industry Council and distributed to the industry in 2000. The fact that Fusarium wilt of cotton has not been observed in three remote cotton growing areas or in the large western Namoi region suggests that seed-borne dispersal of the pathogen has not occurred to date in Australia. Most evidence points to disease spread in soil and crop debris attached to vehicles or machinery or carried in flood or irrigation water.