Boll Weevil Eradication: A Complete Success
The National Boll Weevil Eradication Program ranks close to Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin as one of the greatest advancements ever for the U.S. cotton industry. This federal-state-grower cost share program has helped thousands of U.S. cotton growers become more competitive and has been a plus for the environment.
The weevil has been eradicated in the Southeast states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama and the Far West states of Arizona and California. The final step - one already underway - is eliminating the weevil as an economic pest from the other two Cotton Belt regions - Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri in the Mid-South and Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico in the Southwest. The end is near for this devastating pest, but for eradication to be realized, continued federal support is crucial.
History at a Glance
- A little more than a century ago, Anthonomus grandis (boll weevil) migrated from Mexico to the U.S. and spread rapidly throughout the Cotton Belt. Since then, it has cost America's cotton producers more than $15 billion - from yield losses and costs to control the insect pest.
- In 1958, the National Cotton Council officially recognized the economic havoc the boll weevil was wreaking on U.S. cotton production. With Congressional leadership and support, a USDA Boll Weevil Research Lab was created followed by eradication experiments, a trial eradication program and an areawide boll weevil control program on Texas' High Plains and Rolling Plains to prevent the weevil's migration.
- In the late 1970s, the National Boll Weevil Eradication Program was launched by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) along the Virginia-North Carolina border.
- The program later expanded into other Southeastern states. Simultaneously, programs were launched in southwestern Arizona, southern California and a portion of northwest Mexico.
- Today, 6.5 million cotton acres are active in the eradication program with eradication already achieved on 4.5 million acres. Eradication will begin on an additional 1.5 million acres in the fall of 2000. The goal is to eradicate the weevil as an economic pest from the U.S. during this decade.
- The boll weevil is no longer an economic threat in the Southeast, Arizona and California. The weevil is still costing growers about $300 million annually, mostly in the Mid-South and in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico where eradication programs are either underway or about to be launched.
