Abstract:
The wild ancestors of cotton are found in the arid regions of the world. They are adapted to survive long periods of extremely dry weather and to respond to an occasional storm or flash flood by rapidly producing fruit while conditions are favourable. Modem cultivated cottons have inherited these attributes, making the crop uniquely adapted for both rain-fed and irrigated production. In Australia cotton was grown for over 100 years as a rain-fed crop before the introduction of the intensive irrigated technology. Rain-fed production is undergoing a renaissance prompted by a high cotton price and low grain prices resulting in the emergence of a new technology derived from a marriage of modem broadacre grain production and irrigated cotton production.
