Cotton Pest Control

Factors affecting cotton production practices; Contemporary practices for pest management; Current trends and future alternatives in pest management; Developments in the cotton industry with potential; Delivery of integrated pest management programs; Effects of adopting alternative pest control practives; Relative environmental stress of producing.

The cotton plant; Insects and mites; Pest management.

The book covers many recent advances pertaining to research on cotton. The useful information is provided on the marks of identification, life cycle, damage, hosts and various control measures of cotton pests. The book also provides rearing technique for some cotton pests and their biocontrol agents (parasitoids). As biological control is integral part of pest management, emphasis is given on the cotton-pest parasitoid interactions. Many cotton pests have developed the resistance against several insecticides. Infact, insecticidal use leads to very serious problems like secondary pest out-break, pest resurgence, interruption in ecocycles, air and water pollution, health hazards, killing of beneficial insects, etc. The knowledge on cotton pest parasitoids will facilitate the control of pests on cotton ecosystem by biological means. Several plates and illustrations enhance the pictorial value of the book. This book will be a useful guide to farmers, students, teachers and researchers in the pest management and of use as text book at graduate/post graduate level in agriculture. Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2: Cotton Pests and their Control, Chapter 3: Rearing of Pests and their Parasitoids, Chapter 4: Pest Parasitoid Interactions (i) Nutrition, (ii) Mating Behaviour, (iii) Oviposition Behaviour (iv) Superparasitism, (v) Host Age Selection, (vi) Host Specificity, (vii) Life Tables and Intrinsic Rate of Increase, Chapter 5: Pest Parasitoid Crop Interactions, Chapter 6: Summary.

Pest management information covers nearly 100 pest problems, including information on pesticide resistance, cotton aphid, silverleaf whitefly, pink bollworm, boll weevil, Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt, seedling diseases, velvetleaf, and disease-resistant cotton varieties. 180 color plates.

This book presents a global overview of the background to, and the current state of, crop protection and pest management in cotton crops. Cotton is one of the most economically important crops in the world and has been grown for centuries but maintaining high yields of good quality requires sophisticated approaches to pest management. The introduction and use of pesticides over the decades significantly increased cotton yields but lead to many adverse environmental impacts. Over time, new and alternative insecticides were developed but overuse has enabled pests to develop significant resistance. The development of genetically modified cotton varieties with toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis enabled much improved control of lepidopteran larvae, including bollworms, but as the toxins had no effect on sucking pests, farmers had no choice but to continue using insecticides. Also, some of the new cotton varieties developed in recent times have not adapted to different climatic conditions and the quality of cotton fibre declined as a result. This book shows the need for more research to select cotton varieties with high quality fibres suitable for different cotton growing areas and to develop integrated pest management strategies to minimise the use of pesticides. It also demonstrates the need for an inter-disciplinary approach bringing together plant breeders, entomologists, plant pathologists, agronomists and agricultural engineers to achieve high yields of high quality cotton.

Matthews (pest management, U. of London) give a sound (though partial) update of Pearson's The Insect pests of cotton in tropical Arica. Chemical control remains the best means, but misuse is common. This work, therefore, focuses on the principles of selection, the timing and method of application. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR