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Funded Project

Funding Program: Critical and Emerging Issues

Project Title: Development of a Georgia/South Carolina cotton Pest Management Strategic Plan (PMSP)

Project Directors (PDs): Michael Dennis Toews [1] Gretchen Pettis [2] Jeremy Greene [3]

Lead State: GA Lead Organization: University of Georgia

Cooperating State(s): South Carolina

Undesignated Funding: $5,000

Start Date: Mar-01-2008 End Date: Feb-28-2009

Summary: We propose to develop a PMSP to address a multidisciplinary management plan for Georgia/South Carolina cotton pests. Recent changes in production practices of Cotton in South Carolina and Georgia and increasing priority by governmental agencies for effective and sound management techniques form the basis of need for this PMSP. Further support for the need of a GA/SC Cotton PMSP is given below. 1. Completion of a joint GA/SC Cotton PMSP will blanket the remaining cotton acreage not covered by existing cotton PMSPs. Since Georgia and South Carolina have strong cotton research programs, influence of this document will regional rather than strictly statewide. 2. Development of a PMSP for Southeastern cotton is timely for GAs stakeholders as identified by EPAs Office of Pesticide Programs Biological and Economic Analysis Division (EPA/BEAD). They list the development of a cotton PMSP for Georgia as a BEAD priority. 3. The first cotton pages on eXtension will be released in the fall of 2007 and formally introduced in January 2008. We have contacted the project leaders of the eXtension Cotton Community of Practice concerning posting of relevant information generated in this project, thereby providing an immediate outlet for the PMSP across a broad range of stakeholders. The development of the proposed cotton PMSP is an important step toward moving cotton production research forward. Rapidly changing cultural and land management practices and evolving pest pressures have dramatically altered production practices in the southeastern states. This PMSP will encourage the cross disciplinary pest management strategies for handling these production challenges. A completed PMSP will help stimulate collective research interests and catalyze new management approaches. Objectives: Objective 1. Identify potential members of the working group representing a wide range of stakeholders. Initial work to identify the working group from stakeholders with broad interests has already begun. We expect that the content of the final PMSP will dictate the direction that southeastern cotton research programs move for the next decade or more. Therefore, research and Extension professionals at land grant universities and USDA-ARS will be notified immediately after the proposal is funded to ensure they have ample opportunity to submit ideas for inclusion in the preliminary PMSP. State pesticide and IPM coordinators in each state will be invited to participate as many of them have provided input or drafted PMSP documents for other crops. Invitations will also go out to state grower associations, crop consultants, ginners, cotton marketing agencies, and the state departments of agriculture. At least one grower from each state will be invited in addition to regional governmental organizations such as EPA Regions 4 (southeastern states), Southern Region IPM, Cotton Incorporated, and the National Cotton Council. Although we anticipate offering approximately 50-60 invitations, we expect that the final working group will be comprised of about 30-40 people. Persons not able to attend the stakeholder meeting will be encouraged to provide written comments to the moderator in advance of the meeting. Objective 2. Develop and complete a pest management strategic plan for Georgia and South Carolina cotton production. Preliminary development of the GA/SC cotton PMSP will be initiated after thoroughly examining the existing southeastern region cotton crop profiles (Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina) and the previous PMSP documents from the Midsouth, Texas, and California. A detailed timeline will be discussed by the PIs and amended at the initial meeting so all parties are aware of their responsibilities. Templates found on the SR IPM homepage (http://www.ipmcenters.org/pmsp/EfficacyTables.pdf) including pesticide efficiency table, toxicity to beneficials table, worker activity timeline, pest timeline, and regional tables will be drafted by Extension specialists in time for group discussion at the 2nd quarterly PI meeting. Objective 3. Promote grower awareness of regional production issues and research-based solutions. There are many communication venues that need to be tapped for more efficient and widespread dissemination of research results, especially those arising from new cooperative research inspired by the Georgia/South Carolina cotton PMSP. The most logical venue for scientific dissemination is the annual Beltwide Cotton Conferences, but many of the attendees are fellow scientists or industry colleagues. We need to be more proactive in submitting research results to popular press publications such as Carolina Farmer, Progressive Farmer, Cotton Grower, and Southeast Farm Press. Despite shrinking budgets, we need to stay the course with holding many local grower meetings in areas where we have a strong Extension presence (i.e. GA, SC, NC, and VA). Most southeastern states have been successful in holding annual county-wide grower meetings and cotton production workshops/meetings. These states organize and deliver university crop protection schools (e.g. cotton scout school) annually. Other examples of meetings with information exchange include the Georgia Cotton Production Workshop, Cotton Inc. Crop Management Seminar, Southeast Ginners Association Meeting, CCA training meetings, and county agent training events. Remaining southeastern state Extension programs have similar programs. These programs should be expanded when possible.

Final Report:

Results The Georgia/South Carolina cotton PMSP was held January 29-30, 2008, at the University of Georgia Tifton Conference Center. During the one and a half day workshop (agenda in Appendix I), participants developed Research, Regulatory and Extension priorities for cotton production in Georgia and South Carolina. Invited participants included University research and Extension professionals, USDA ARS scientists, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, US EPA, Cotton Incorporated leadership, county Extension agents, crop consultants, ginners, grower association members, cotton producers, and a representative from the National Cotton Council. At the meeting, stakeholders developed pesticide tables (not shown here for brevity) that reflect the effectiveness of extant pesticide products as well as indicating, where possible, the impacts on beneficial insects and other aspects of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Stakeholders also spent considerable time in small groups where they identified needs for each area. Those needs compromise the backbone of the stakeholder input (in Appendix).

Outputs Subsequent Funding for Cotton Production Research ($1,569,828). Stakeholder identified research priorities from the Georgia/South Carolina PMSP meeting have been cited multiple times in grant proposals to illustrate the need for cotton production research in the southeast. A list of funded proposals that mention these priorities include the following: Toews, M.D., R.S. Tubbs, G.H. Harris, R. Srinivasan, and P.M. Roberts. 2012. Managing early season thrips in seedling cotton using a seed treatment, starter fertilizer, and foliar insecticides. Cotton Incorporated ($18,486). Tubbs, R.S., M.D. Toews, G.H. Harris, G.D. Collins, W.D. Shurley and A.R. Smith. 2012. Fertilization and cover crop interactions for strip-till cotton production. Georgia Cotton Commission ($10,000). Toews, M.D. 2012. Improved insecticide selection and foliar timing for mitigating thrips in seedling cotton. Georgia Cotton Commission ($16,145). Toews, M.D., J.J. Herbert, R.S. Tubbs, G.H. Harris, R. Srinivansan, and P.M. Roberts. 2011. Managing early season thrips in seedling cotton using a seed treatment, starter fertilizer,and foliar insecticides. Cotton Incorporated. ($13,000). Herbert, D.A. and M.D. Toews. 2011. Managing early season thrips in seedling cotton using a seed treatment, starter fertilizer, and foliar insecticides. Cotton Incorporated. ($10,500). Toews, M.D., J. Herbert, F.P. Reay-Jones, D. Reisig, and J. Greene. 2011. Ecologically driven stink bug management in commercial farmscapes. USDA NIFA Southern Region IPM Center ($140,167). Herbert, J. and M.D. Toews. 2011. Stink bug distribution and reproductive capacity in Georgia cotton farmscapes. Georgia Cotton Commission ($10,000). Toews, M.D. 2011. Understanding stink bug feeding preferences and movement on individual cotton plants. Georgia Cotton Commission. ($21,313). Toews, M.D., J.R. Ruberson and P.M. Roberts. 2010. Preservation of Georgia Cotton Fiber. USDA NIFA Special Research Grants ($322,011). Bacheler, J., A. Herbert, P. Roberts, J. Greene, and M.D. Toews. 2010. Development, production and distribution of a pocket-sized field instrument to improve stink bug management on cotton. Enhancement Grants-Special Projects-Southern Region IPM Center ($25,000). Toews, M. D., M. A. Haidekker, and J. Xia. 2010. Rapid detection of damaged cotton bolls using fluorescence. Georgia Cotton Commission. ($12,500). Toews, M. D. 2010. In-field border insecticide applications to manage stink bugs. Georgia Cotton Commission. ($15,000). Toews, M. D., J. R. Ruberson, and P. Roberts. 2009. Cotton insect management and quality. USDA/CSREES Special Research Grants Program ($322,571). Toews, M. D., M. A. Haidekker, and J. Xia. 2009. Rapid detection of damaged cotton bolls using fluorescence. Cotton Incorporated. ($14,000). Tubbs, R. S., M. D. Toews, W. D. Shurley, A. R. Ziehl, G. H. Harris, and R. D. Lee. 2009. Nutrient cycling and cover crop decomposition in strip-till and conventional cotton tillage systems. Georgia Cotton Commission. ($20,000). Li, C. and M. D. Toews. 2009. Development of a rapid sensing technology for detection of stink bug infested (internally damaged) cotton bolls. Georgia Cotton Commission. ($17,252). Reay-Jones, F.P.F., J. K. Greene, M. D. Toews, and C. Carpio. 2009. Farmscape ecology of stink bugs and the development of environmentally friendly control strategies. USDA CSREES Southern Region IPM Center ($153,946). Toews, M. D., J. R. Ruberson, and P. M. Roberts. 2008. Cotton insect management and quality. USDA/CSREES Special Research Grants Program ($343,542). Herbert, A., J. Bacheler, E. Blinka, and M. D. Toews. 2008. Refinement and validation of a new time-saving technique for hemipterous pests of cotton based on external feeding symptoms. USDA CSREES Southern Region IPM Center ($25,000). Toews, M. D. 2008. Marking methods for stink bugs (yr 2). Cotton Incorporated. ($19,895). Toews, M. D. 2008. Optimization of sampling methods for stink bugs (yr 2). Georgia Cotton Commission ($17,500). Ruberson, J. R.., P. M. Roberts, and M. Toews. 2008. Insecticide resistance monitoring of Heliothines in Cotton. Georgia Cotton Commission and Cotton Incorporated ($22,000).

Outcomes See Appendix

Impacts See Appendix

Report Appendices Meeting Agenda [PDF] Research Needs [PDF]

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