ABSTRACT
The substantial cost of late-season insect control and the uncertainty producers have knowing when a crop is safe to terminate have necessitated the development of better end-of-season cotton management programs. One component of COTMAN, a computer aided cotton management program, is used to identify when insecticide use can be terminated based on crop development status. COTMAN therefore, has the potential of saving producers unnecessary late-season insect control costs. Studies to validate the insecticide termination component of COTMAN were conducted on nine grower fields from north Arkansas to south Arkansas. Results of the studies indicate that COTMAN rules are sufficient for timing insecticide termination for the control of fruit feeding insects. Even in fields expressing extremely pre-mature cutout, no yield advantage was obtained by extending insect control past cutout + 350 DD60's. Averaged across the state, insect control beyond cutout + 350 DD60's resulted $15.00 per acre more inputs with no yield increase.
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