Boll Weevil Eradication Program

Boll Weevil Eradication Program. . Georgia's history and cotton production have been inseparably woven together since 1733, when the colony was founded and cotton was first planted in Trustee's Garde, near Savannah. The boll weevil first appeared in Thomasville in 1915, and cotton production began declining rapidly, from a historical high of 2.8 million bales in 1914 to 600,000 bales in 1923. Aerial applications of calcium arsenate dust began in the early 1920s. This helped increase yields somewhat, but the industry never recovered, and production continued declining steadily for another 60 years. In 1983 Georgia produced only 112,000 bales on 115,000 harvested acres. The active treatment and trapping phase of the boll weevil eradication program began in 1987 and was completed in 1990. , Cotton insect management has changed dramatically since the elimination of the boll weevil as an economic pest and the subsequent commercialization of Bt transgenic cotton. Prior to the elimination of the boll weevil, Georgia producers applied 10 to 20 insecticide treatments each season for the control of boll weevils abd other pests. Upon elimination of the boll weevil, the number of insecticide applications was reduced to four or five during the period from 1992 to 1995. Beginning in 1996, the utilization of Bt cotton further reduced the need for insecticides by eliminating the need to treat for tobacco budworm and significantly reducing the need to treat for corn earworm. , As a result, producers in Georgia have had the opportunity to fully implement integrated pest management (IPM) tactics such as scouting and the use of thresholds, cultural practices, variety selection, biological control, and insecticides used on an as-needed basis rather than relying solely on insecticide use to control cotton insect pests. In Georgia, the use of IPM has resulted in reduced insecticide use lowering crop production costs, delayed pest resistance problems due to repeated exposures to insecticides, improved market competitiveness and increased crop profitability. The elimination of the boll weevil, the utilization of Bt transgenic cotton and the implementation of IPM tactics have contributed to cotton production in Georgia increasing from 250,000 acres in 1987 to 1,268,606 acres in 2017. , The Georgia Boll Weevil Eradication Program (BWEP) is operated by the Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation of Georgia, Inc., a non-profit organization funded wholly by Georgia cotton producers. In 2019, Georgia cotton producers will fund the Foundation to monitor (trap) and respond to local reintroductions of the boll weevil through an annual per bale assessment of $0.75. , [Graphic] Figure 1. Mean insecticide applications applied on Georgia cotton, 1986-2017. The Boll Weevil Eradication Program was initiated during the fall of 1986. Insecticide applications applied by BWEP personnel are not included.