The control of unwanted cotton in the farming system is an essential part of good integrated pest and disease management.

Lifting and moving water around farms with pumping systems for irrigation consumes plenty of energy as water is a heavy liquid. This fact sheet outlines the fundamentals of energy use in pumping water.

A comprehensive testing program of conventional large mixed flow pumps typically used on cotton irrigation farms has found that these pumps, if correctly tuned, can operate at high efficiency levels with reduced energy costs and lower carbon emissions.

Irrigated cotton growers stand to make substantial savings in fuel and greenhouse gas emissions in tractor operations if appropriate tractor engine and ground speeds are used and tillage depth is kept to the shallowest that is suitable for the task.