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Title: EFFECTS OF ALDICARB ON GROWTH, FLOWERING, AND DRY MATTER PARTITIONING IN COTTON

Author
item Reddy, Vangimalla
item Wang, Zhongchun
item REDDY, K. - MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIV.

Submitted to: Plant and Soil
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/13/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Aldicarb is an insecticide used extensively for early season insect control in cotton. It was estimated that 3.5 million acres of cotton was treated with aldicarb in the United States in 1991. Despite the well documented effects of aldicarb on pest control in cotton, we do not know if aldicarb has a direct effect on cotton growth and development. The purpose of this research was to determine how cotton plants directly respond to aldicarb when the plants are free of insects and how this response is affected by temperature. Our results show that aldicarb had a direct effect on cotton. Aldicarb promoted cotton earliness by enhancing growth rates and promoting the roots to grow deeper into soil. The responses of cotton to aldicarb depended on temperature, with a greater effect occurring at near optimum temperatures. The results of these studies quantify the direct hormonal effects of aldicarb on cotton. This information is useful for deciding exact amounts of this chemical under a range of cotton growing climates.

Technical Abstract: The insecticidal properties and indirect effect of aldicarb on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) due to insect control are well documented, however, much less is known regarding its direct effect on cotton growth and development. The purpose of this research was to determine how cotton plants directly respond to aldicarb when the plants are free of insects and how this response is affected by temperature. Cotton plants (cv. Deltapine-50 and DES-119) were grown in outdoor sunlit growth chambers under five day/night temperatures. In one study, aldicarb at 0.56 kg ha-1 was applied to soil at sowing. In another study, the first aldicarb application at 0.84 kg ha-1 as made to soil at sowing and the second application at 2.24 kg ha-1 as a side-dressing at initial squaring. The plants treated with aldicarb had greater mainstem growth rates, more mainstem nodes, greater canopy dry weight, and more leaf area than control plants grown at 25/17, 30/22, and 35/27 degrees C at 15 and 27 days after emergence (DAE). However, these values were not different between control and treated plants grown at 20/12 and 40/32 degrees C for all growth stages, and at 56 DAE for all five temperatures. Aldicarb also promoted the early formation of cotton squares and increased the number of flowers. The treated plants had more growing root axes, greater root lengths and densities in the soil at 61 to 80 cm. Aldicarb favored the partitioning of dry matter into roots over canopy. These results suggest that aldicarb promoted cotton earliness by enhancing growth rates and promoting the roots to grow deeper into soil. The responses of cotton to aldicarb depended on temperature, with a greater effect occurring at near optimum temperatures.