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Cooperative Extension Service |
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Agricultural
Experiment Station |
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County
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Dale Bumpers College
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Modern science has improved cotton production dramatically in the past few years with the development of transgenic cotton varieties. These varieties have certain genes bred into the plants, such as the Roundup Ready gene, which makes the plant tolerant to the chemical glyphosate. Other examples are Bt cotton, which makes the cotton resistant to pests such as the cotton bollworm or the tobacco budworm. These technologies have been improved and, in order to see how well they perform over the original Bt cotton, they must be tested. County Extension agent Andy Vangilder studied the performance of three forms of Bt cotton: Bollgard, Bollgard II, and Widestrike. He recruited Clay County producer David Cagle to plant the test on his farm.
Approximately ten acres of each type of cotton were planted, and Vangilder monitored the plots weekly. The goal was to see which form of insect control held up best. After evaluating the different technologies for several weeks, Vangilder came to the following conclusions: (1) the original Bollgard cotton held up well but eventually needed to be sprayed for bollworms, (2) Bollgard II held up better and had some low infestations of bollworms and armyworms but never needed spraying, and (3) Widestrike had only a few armyworms and seemed to hold up the best for bollworm suppression. While this is just one year’s data, it will help producers improve their efficiency and look for high-yielding varieties with these new technologies.
Impacts
Important data:
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Clay County - Piggott Clay County - Corning |
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