Abstract
The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the key pests and limiting factors to cotton production in conventional and organic systems. We assessed the use of resistant and susceptible cotton cultivars, a neem-based insecticide (Natuneem), and trapping with an A. grandis grandis aggregation pheromone as possible control tactics. In the first of two growing seasons we evaluated resistance of colored fiber cotton cultivars BRS 200, BRS Rubi, BRS Safira, and BRS Verde, and white fiber cotton BRS Aroeira, against A. grandis grandis attack. In the second growing season we assessed three colored cotton cultivars grown in and without close association of BRS Aroeira, and two control tactics: the neem-based pesticide and trapping. Because BRS Aroeira showed resistance against A. grandis grandis in the first growing season, it was selected to be planted in close association with more susceptible colored cultivars in the second growing season. Field plots with white and colored cotton cultivars reduced the need to control A. grandis grandis using the neem-based pesticide. Control by the neem-based pesticide and by trapping were of comparable value although the traps provided measurable control during early cotton growth stages and the neem-based pesticide provided measurable control during later cotton growth stages.
Highlights
During 2018 22.5 million tons of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., lint was produced in the Northern Hemisphere, constituting 88% of annual worldwide production (ICAC, 2018)
Cotton cultivars altered numbers of A. grandis grandis pupae on day 109 (F4,8 = 4.26; P = 0.0388), day 146 (F4,8 = 4.74, P = 0.0029), and day 160 (F4,8 = 4.64, P = 0.0313) and the percentage of fruiting bodies infested on day 138 (F4,8 = 4.74, P = 0.0295)
More pupae were found in BRS 200 fruiting bodies on day 160 compared with the other colored cotton cultivars; BRS Aroeira produced an intermediate number of pupae (Table 1)
Summary
During 2018 22.5 million tons of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., lint was produced in the Northern Hemisphere, constituting 88% of annual worldwide production (ICAC, 2018). Less than 1%, 107,980 tons, were grown using organic methods. Brazil is one of the top five cotton-producing countries (STATISTA, 2018). Cotton production increased by 300% between 1990 and 2012 (Albuquerque et al, 2016), and cotton is among the crops most treated with synthetic pesticides (Pignati et al, 2017). Brazil is not among the largest producers of organic cotton (Textile Exchange, 2017). Regardless, increased organic cotton production is anticipated to reduce heavy reliance on synthetic insecticide use in Brazil’s cotton growing areas
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