Texas A&M University scientists, in collaboration with USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists in New Orleans and College Station, TX, continue to explore additional non-food and non-feed applications of cottonseed products such as a cancer-inhibitor, a concrete mold releasing agent and an alternative fuel for automobiles to improve combustion efficiency and reduce pollutants.

Aflatoxin contamination of cottonseed costs farmers $30-$50 per acre in Arizona but no reliable prevention methods exist. As the result of a decade of effort by USDA-ARS, the National Cotton Council and the IR-4 Biopesticide Program, the biopesticide atoxigenic agent, Aspergillus flavus AF36, received a section 3 registration for treatments in Texas and Arizona in 2003. The section 3 is for 30 months after which time additional data is required including verification of the quality and stability of product resulting from the full scale manufacturing process and additional molecular data on the characterization of AF36.

In 2003 more than 16,000 acres of Arizona cotton was treated with AF36. However, conditions for contamination were extremely severe and high levels of contamination occurred in some treatment areas. Analysis of the fungal communities associated with treated and untreated components of the 2003 crop are underway in order to assess efficacy of applications and agronomic practices most successful at achieving acceptable control levels.

In collaboration with the Arizona Cotton Research and Protection Council, several significant improvements to commercial scale manufacture of AF36 were made in 2003.  Procedures to minimize loss of product quality in shipping containers will be addressed during 2004 and alternative shipping and storage containers will be evaluated with the aim of enhancing product stability and preservation.

Research continues on determining the incidence and distribution of various types of Aspergillus flavus in South Texas. The most effective strain at displacing aflatoxin producers in all test years was the atoxigenic strain AF36, the same strain used in Arizona. During 2003, a section 3 registration was granted by federal EPA for Aspergillus flavus AF36 for unlimited treatments to cotton in Texas and Arizona. In order to retain the registration, expanded efficacy data for South Texas is being acquired.

In 2004, treatments were expanded to three additional areas, including at least one in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Mapping of A. flavus communities in South Texas continues, and a comprehensive map of strain distribution will be generated by the end of 2004 and used to interpret atoxigenic strain applications.