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Cotton pests under assault in South Texas
Welasco, Texas
October 4, 2005

The noose continues to tighten around insects that harm the cotton crop of extreme South Texas.

A grower-funded eradication program began a coordinated assault against boll weevils earlier this year. Now a Texas Cooperative Extension insect scouting program to supplement these efforts is being planned for 2006.
Once implemented, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Scouting Project will allow growers to access information about insect populations - information that often can make or break a crop - on the Internet.

Manda Cattaneo, a cotton integrated pest management entomologist at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, said the program will provide growers with important information at the click of a mouse.

"The proposal is to monitor 48 cotton fields owned by 48 different growers throughout the Valley on a weekly basis and post the information we gather on a Web site," she said. "Instead of having to rely on hearsay or word of mouth, growers will be able to easily access reliable, up-to-date scientific information on the status of insect populations and the crop in their areas and beyond."

The information would also be available on Pest Cast, a weekly newsletter Cattaneo produces throughout the cotton growing season, February to September. Pest Cast is available free, either by mail or e-mail.

With this information, growers could make better-informed crop production decisions, Cattaneo said, especially in making timely insecticide applications.

"Scouting information will include counts of both pest and beneficial insects, as well as insect damage to plants and squares, crop development stage and the overall condition of the crop," she said.

The fields to be scouted will include three in each of the 16 work units of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Boll Weevil Eradication Program, which cover all cotton production in the area.

Growers who want to participate and will allow access to their fields should contact Cattaneo.

"We're also looking for sponsors to fund this scouting effort," Cattaneo said. "We've had a lot of interest and positive reactions from the agribusinesses we've contacted who would also benefit from such a program. These include chemical companies, implement dealers, banks, loan companies, seed companies and others."

Similar programs in other cotton producing areas of the state have proved successful, according to Charles Stichler, Extension agronomist at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Uvalde.

"The big benefit of a scouting program like this is that it gives growers reliable information about trends of insect activities and developing problems," he said. "With that information, growers can scout and watch their own fields more closely and try to prevent disasters by applying timely insecticide applications."

Sam Simmons, a Harlingen farmer, likes the idea of having access to information from the 16 work units throughout the Valley.

"The more information a grower has about field conditions, the better," he said. "And the information is that much more valuable to a farmer if it comes from his immediate area, rather than generalized, broad-based information about the entire area."

To become a cooperator grower, a sponsor of the scouting program, or to receive Pest Cast, contact Cattaneo at (956) 968-5581, or e-mail MGCattaneo@ag.tamu.edu .

by Rod Santa Ana III

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