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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312465
Title: Cotton insect pest management

Author
item LUTTRELL, RANDALL
item TEAGUE, TINA - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
item BREWER, MICHAEL - TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/25/2014
Publication Date: 8/6/2015
Citation: Luttrell, R.G., Teague, T.G., Brewer, M.J. 2015. Cotton insect pest management. In: D. D. Fang and R. G. Percy (Eds.) Cotton. Agronomy Monograph 57, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI. Book Chapter. Pp. 509-546.

Interpretive Summary: A review of cotton insect pest management was conducted to document changes in insect control technologies and insect management systems over the last 30 years. This review will be a chapter in Cotton, 2nd Edition, a monograph of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America, which includes a complete synthesis of all aspects of cotton production. Extraordinary changes in management of insects and mites attacking cotton have transpired since the 1st edition was published in 1984. We provide summaries of evolving technology, resistance management and dynamic pest problems over this period, and we examine the integration of insect and crop management systems including discussions of Bt and herbicide tolerant cotton, farm-level planning, linking insect management to crop development, and farm to region-scale management systems. We also provide an overall synthesis of significant advances in arthropod pest management and consider future implications. Throughout the review we emphasize ecological context of management decisions and the adaptive capacity of arthropods targeted directly or indirectly by control measures.

Technical Abstract: Cotton production is challenged worldwide by a diversity of arthropod pests that require management to prevent or reduce crop damage. Advances in arthropod control technologies and improved insect and crop management systems have dramatically reduced levels of arthropod damage and the need for insecticidal control of several key pests in cotton over the past 30 years. The near-complete eradication of boll weevil (Anthonomous grandis Boheman) from the USA and the worldwide deployment of transgenic cottons expressing insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt cotton) are among the most notable advances. Insects and mites are highly adaptable, and new pest problems have emerged that continue to challenge or limit cotton production and profitability. In this update of cotton insect pest management, we review evolving technologies for cotton arthropod management, the purposeful deployment of resistance management programs, dynamic responses of arthropod pests to management actions, and improved integration of insect and crop management systems. We emphasize ecological context, including varying spatial scales of management, and the adaptive capacity of the arthropods impacted by management decisions as continuing influences on man’s effort to limit arthropod damage to cotton.