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Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Program
Since its movement into Texas in 1892, the boll weevil has been either directly or indirectly responsible for widespread economic losses. The boll weevil was called the “$10 Billion Bug” in 1950 in Georgia and it has been estimated that the boll weevil caused estimated losses of $175 million from 1909 to 1971. From 1996 to 2000, boll weevil losses for Texas were $126 million per year and for the High Plains alone $109 million per year. The boll weevil has played an important role in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University. The first entomologist in the department, Frederick Mally, was hired to help producers manage this pest. Cotton production moved from the high rainfall areas of East Texas to drier West Texas in an effort to escape from the boll weevil. Pioneering work in diapausing insects by Jim Brazzel, Dale Bottrell and Perry Adkisson led to the establishment of the Texas High Plains Boll Weevil Suppression Program. This program essentially kept the boll weevil from moving onto the High Plains from 1964 until the mid-1990’s when mild winters and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage gave the boll weevil a toehold and overwhelmed the resources of the program. The boll weevil eradication program was initiated in 1978 in North Carolina. The Department of Entomology is involved with the Foundation in a number of ways. Dr. Charles Allen, who has a partial appointment with Texas Cooperative Extension, is Program Director for the TBWEF. In addition, a technical committee provides oversight for the Foundation to make sure the program stays on a strong biological foundation as the eradication program progresses. Dr. James Leser is chair of the committee and other members include Drs. Tom Fuchs, Roy Parker, Jeff Slosser as well as retired faculty members Ray Frisbie and Don Rummel. The program has had its low points (law suits in 1997) and high points. The Southern Rolling Plains zone (cotton farmers in the San Angelo area) was the first area in Texas to begin boll weevil eradication in the fall of 1994, just over 10 years ago. Since that time, the program has seen struggles and successes. Early on, the program was shut down and restarted, and one zone and a part of a second zone ceased program participation. As of the spring of 2005 however, all 6+ million acres of Texas cotton are involved in boll weevil eradication, having passed the necessary grower referenda. The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation is conducting eradication programs in 16 Texas and 4 New Mexico zones. Similarly, all US cotton and all of the cotton in northern Mexico is conducting or has completed boll weevil eradication. Last spring (2004), the boll weevil eradication program in Texas reached a milestone. Seven zones with 4.4 million acres of west Texas cotton reached boll weevil populations low enough that the Texas Department of Agriculture declared them “suppressed”. These seven zones joined two zones which had previously been declared “functionally eradicated.” Taken together, nine Texas zones with 5.3 million acres of cotton had weevil populations low enough to qualify for quarantine protection against re-infestation. These significant reductions in boll weevil populations were recognized on 83% of the state’s cotton producing acres. The eradication program from 2001 to 2004 reduced boll weevil losses to $6 million per year (down from $126 million) and for the High Plains $55,000 per year (down from $109 million). In an economic analysis sponsored by Cotton Incorporated and written by Dr. John Robinson, Extension Economist, the benefits of the program are starting to build. Table 1 provides the net present value and the benefit-cost ratio for seven zones (Southern Rolling Plains (Zone 1), South Texas/Wintergarden (Zone 3), Southern High Plains/Caprock (Zone 5), Northern High Plains (Zone 6), Western High Plains (Zone 7), Northern Rolling Plains (Zone 9) and Northwest Plains (Zone 10)). A positive net present value and a benefit-cost ratio of greater than one signify a good investment. All zones meet both criteria. Table 1. Summary Boll Weevil Eradication Investment Values Using Revised Beltwide Entomologist Estimates of Boll Weevil Yield Loss, Boll Weevil Spray Cost Savings and Other Cost Differences.
*Net present value, in dollars per acre In addition, the program has led to other benefits. The Foundation has reduced malathion use by 98.8% since 2001 as the boll weevil population is being reduced. In addition, most production areas are seeing a decrease in other insecticides being used to control secondary and occasional pests (bollworm, tobacco budworm, spider mites, cotton aphids, etc.) as the program continues. The Lubbock area has seen a 67.7% reduction in insecticide applications for other pests in cotton and the San Angelo area has seen an 80% reduction in the number of insecticide applications. With all cotton plantings in the U.S. and northern Mexico in boll weevil eradication, the goal of elimination of the boll weevil from Texas and the United States is on the way to becoming a reality. Related Links:
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