Skip to main content

Bright coloured petals on a long stalk, the leaves of the plant are long and skinny

"The [nematode breeding] cycle goes on over and over and over through the season,"
Dr Smith said.
Bright coloured insects are attached to a root under a microscope. The insects almost look like small leaves growing out

"Unfortunately, half-ordinary cotton is a better return than a bumper crop of sorghum or wheat."

A man in a brightly patterned work shirt stands between a man and woman in blue work shirts, they're all smiling

"When you have back-to-back cotton for a long time, you just get a build-up of other disease-causing organisms."
Scientist Dr Paul Grundy picks a trial crop of cotton by hand.

Close up of young cotton plant, buds are starting to form, leaves are brightly coloured

A birds eye view of a bright crop. It's planted in small plots with empty plots in between.

A close up of an open cotton flower

"It's really hard to get a sacrificial crop in between production crops,"
he said.

A microscopic view of a root with a small insect attached to it, it looks like a short fat worm.

"The plant just can't cope with all of those antagonists at the one time,"
she said.

Stories from farms and country towns across Australia, delivered each Friday.
Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.
Posted , updated