What is a boll weevil?
A boll weevil sits perched inside a cotton plant. An eradication program has been active in Texas since 1993. Some experts predict the boll weevil will be eradicated nationwide within four to five years.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
For information on boll weevils or the eradication process, visit:
www.txbollweevil.org
www.agr.state.tx.us
www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health
DID YOU KNOW ... ?
Boll weevils are only affected by pesticides at the adult weevil stage, once they've exited the cotton fruit. Both ...
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
For information on boll weevils or the eradication process, visit:
www.txbollweevil.org
www.agr.state.tx.us
www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health
DID YOU KNOW ... ?
Boll weevils are only affected by pesticides at the adult weevil stage, once they've exited the cotton fruit. Both the feeding and reproduction processes kill bolls on the cotton plant, ultimately reducing the amount of cotton lint available for harvest on each plant.
Source: Teresa Eliason, spokeswoman for the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation
For more than a decade, a program has been in the works to eliminate the boll weevil from Texas cotton. But what is a boll weevil and why do so many want to get rid of it? Teresa Eliason, spokeswoman for the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, has the answers.
Q: What is the boll weevil?
A: The adult boll weevil is a grayish or reddish-brown beetle about one-quarter inch in length. It has a snout about half the length of the body and double-toothed spurs inside the front legs.
Q: What damage does it do to crops?
A: Boll weevils feed on and reproduce in cotton. Adults emerge in Spring and search out cotton fields producing fruit. After feeding, females chew holes in squares or round bolls and deposit eggs. They fill the hole with a sticky secretion, forming a plug to protect the egg, larvae and pupae. The National Cotton Council estimates the weevil has cost United States cotton producers more than $13 billion since entering from Mexico a century ago (National Cotton Council, 1994).
Q: Where are boll weevil populations worst?
A:Of Texas' 4.5 million cotton acres in 2009, the weevil has been effectively eradicated in all but 800,000 acres in South and East Texas. In areas where weevils are still present and controls are ongoing, populations have been reduced by upward of 90 percent since the program began.
Q: How does the program work?
A: First, all cotton fields are mapped using Global Positioning Satellite technology. Longitude and latitude coordinates produce maps with information for field techs and aerial applicators to locate the fields. Data is integrated into other systems to allow employees to determine which fields to treat. Next, pheromone lures are placed on field perimeters. These traps provide personnel with data on boll weevil activity while removing them from the field. Control is primarily accomplished through good cultural practices such as early planting and harvest, timely removal of hostable material from fields and insecticide applications.
Q: What types of results have you seen?
A: The weevil is functionally eradicated or suppressed in 11 of the 16 Texas zones, or more than 80 percent of the state's 4.5 million cotton acres. Yields per harvested acre have increased dramatically. From 2004 to 2007, Texas posted four of the five largest Texas cotton crops in history. Reduced pesticide applications and lower production costs are other factors. In fact, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service estimates the increased farm-level returns attributable solely to eradication at $206 million in 2005 alone and $946 million from 1996 through 2005.
Q: Will boll weevils ever be completely eradicated?
A: Yes. According to the National Cotton Council, the weevil has already been eradicated in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama Arizona and California. Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi, Oklahoma, and New Mexico are essentially free of them, with very few captures reported in 2008. Already, 97 percent of cotton grown in the United States is weevil free. Some experts project nationwide eradication in four to five years.
Q: What should a farmer do if he finds weevils on his land?
A: The eradication program involves the foundation mapping and trapping all cotton fields statewide to monitor and treat for boll weevils. Unfortunately, cotton is not always reported and not always commercial. The foundation asks that producers destroy and/or report volunteer, non-commercial cotton to the local boll weevil office. Eradication is a partnership between producers and the Foundation and it is important that both parties communicate.
Q: Is there anything else you wanted to share with area producers?
A: Eliminating volunteer cotton is the most important thing we can do to liberate Texas from the boll weevil. Partnership between the foundation and producers is fundamental. The foundation respects the fact that every farming operation is unique and each grower has his/her own way of doing business. With that in mind, it asks parties to consider the emphasis the legislature, Texas Department of Agriculture, foundation and growers have placed on the program and to be on alert for non-commercial cotton. We encourage producers to contact the foundation with questions or concerns at 325-672-2800.
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