Issue
During the mid-90s, insecticide applications in cotton typically accounted for about half of all insecticide use in the United States. In 1995, nearly 100 percent of Arizona’s cotton acreage was sprayed multiple times for pink bollworm and silverleaf whitefly. New technologies have enabled cotton growers to reduce their spray applications significantly 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 (IPM) established in Arizona in 1996, refined in 2006, and continued through 2008 uses insect growth regulators (IGRs—effective against whiteflies) and transgenic cotton (with Bt—Bacillus thuringiensis—effective against pink bollworms). Safe for humans, these tools kill only their target pests, allowing natural processes to play a larger role in the control of all other insects. The UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences initiated the program in collaboration with growers, USDA, Arizona Department of Agriculture, Arizona Cotton Growers’ Association, Cotton Incorporated, Arizona Cotton Research & Protection Council, industry and others.
Impact
Over the past 7 years, the fully implemented cotton IPM program has resulted in a 69 percent reduction in pesticide sprays for all insects combined, including whiteflies, pink bollworm, Lygus bug and others. Insecticide usage decreased by more than 1.6 million pounds. In 1995, cotton growers sprayed on average 12.5 times with broadly toxic insecticides totaling nearly 1.71 million pounds. By 2008, cotton growers sprayed just 1.6 times with safer compounds totaling less than 80,000 pounds, a 20-fold reduction in insecticide use. Since 1996, growers have cumulatively saved over $201 million in pesticide costs and in reduced insect damage—which decreased by more than 37 percent. Almost half of the state’s 150,000 acres of cotton was never sprayed for insect pests, and in 2008 growers reported zero sprays for pink bollworm for the first time since the mid-1960s. The IPM plans have been exported for use in California, Texas, northern Mexico, Australia and Latin America.
Web
- Arizona Cotton Insect Losses
cals.arizona.edu/crops/cotton/insects/cil/cil.html
Contact
Peter Ellsworth(520) 381-2225
email: peterell@ag.arizona.edu