Chemical termination of cotton stalks
| Problem: | The cornerstone of area wide management of boll weevil is establishment and maintenance of a host-plant free period. Texas state law requires that cotton fields contain no live plants from September 1 through February 1 each year. Adverse weather conditions and conservation tillage often prevent immediate and complete stalk destruction. |
| Objective: | Evaluate the effects of selected herbicides on cotton stalk destruction as substitutes for conventional termination methods. |
| Approach: | Experiment will be conducted in greenhouse and small field plots with applications of selected promising herbicides to shredded versus standing cotton. We will estimate the effect of tested herbicides, application timing, herbicide rates and spray volumes on cotton stalk destruction. |
| Accomplishment: | Our previous results showed that two applications with 2,4-D provided 100% control of cotton re-growth. |
Sasha M Greenburg