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Competitive Agricultural Systems in a Global Economy
Cotton IPM: Reducing Insecticide Use
Issue
Insecticide applications in cotton typically account for about half
of all insecticide use in the United States. New materials on the market
are now enabling cotton growers to reduce their spray applications while
maintaining competitive yields. These technologies also help growers
implement more ecologically-based IPM programs and become less dependent
on broadly toxic insecticides.
What has been done?
An integrated pest management program in Arizona implemented two new
tools in 1996 and continued their use through 2002: insect growth regulators
(IGRs, effective against whiteflies) and transgenic cotton (containing
Bt effective against pink bollworms). The University of Arizona College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences collaborated with growers, the USDA,
the Arizona Department of Agriculture, the Arizona Cotton Growers' Association,
Cotton Incorporated, industry and others. Both of these tools are highly
effective against pests, but safe to humans and the environment. Based
on insect hormones, growth regulators disrupt the growth and development
of insects. Transgenic cotton is genetically engineered to carry its
own biological insecticide, targeting lepidopterous pests, within the
plant tissues.
Impact
Nearly 100 percent of the cotton acreage in Arizona was sprayed multiple
times for pink bollworm and silverleaf whitefly in 1995; however, from
1999 through 2001 the majority of acres were never sprayed even once
for these two pests. Comparing averages for 1990-1995, a period before
the IPM education and technologies were introduced in cotton production,
with averages for 1996-2002, the following reductions in spray applications
were realized:
For silverleaf whitefly, the average number of chemical sprays dropped
from 3.58 sprays per season in 1990-1995 to 1.15 in 1996-2002, representing
a 68 percent reduction and over $72.4 million in cumulative control
savings, or about $10 million annually. For pink bollworm, the average
number of sprays per season decreased from 2.72 sprays per season to
0.72 sprays, a 74 percent reduction, representing $39 million in cumulative
savings. For Lygus bug, sprays have decreased only slightly, from 1.57
sprays to 1.52 sprays, a 3 percent decrease; however, due to inflation
and other increases in costs of insecticides, there has been a $24.3
million increase in cumulative control costs. Yet the total for all
three pests, and other minor pests, reduced from 9.03 sprays to 3.84
sprays, or a 58 percent reduction overall and a cumulative control savings
of $103.2 million over the seven-year period of 1996-2002. Annual cotton
acreage in Arizona is usually over 250,000 acres.
Along with resistance management, these IPM efforts reduced insecticide
use, conserved biological control agents, and enhanced sustainability
and profitability. The availability of these selected technologies,
which are harmless to predaceous insects, has provided growers the opportunity
to employ IPM practices that enhance the population levels of beneficial
insects in the field and created area-wide benefits for all producers.
Furthermore, these plans have been exported for use in California, northern
Mexico, and Australia.
Funding
Hatch Act
Smith-Lever 3(b) & (c)
Special Research Grants Smith-Lever 3(d) (e.g., IPM)
Other CSREES: Western Region IPM; Pest Management Alternatives Program
Commodity: Cotton Incorporated
State: Arizona Cotton Growers Association
Other Industry: Agrochemical
Contact
Peter Ellsworth, IPM specialist
The University of Arizona
Maricopa Agricultural Center
37860 W. Smith-Enke Road
Maricopa, AZ 85239-3010
Tel: (520) 568-2273; FAX: (520) 568-2556
Email: peterell@ag.arizona.edu
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