ABSTRACT

The areawide pink bollworm eradication program, which is designed to rid all cotton-producing areas of the United States and adjacent areas of northern Mexico from the pink bollworm (PBW), completed a successful 2002 in Phase I, which includes the El Paso/Trans Pecos area of Texas (EPTP), South Central New Mexico (SCNM), and Chihuahua, Mexico.

The 2002 trapping data indicate that PBW adults were reduced by over 84% in EPTP, 91% in SCNM, and 95% in Chihuahua in 2002 when compared with 2000 and 2001. Similarly, data from PBW larval survey conducted in randomly selected fields in all three program areas coincided with the low level of the adult populations. The overall mean number of PBW larvae per 100 bolls sampled in EPTP, SCNM, and Chihuahua was 0.81, 0.45, and 0.30, respectively.

The 2002 program was highly effective in reducing the overall PBW population to a below economic level in all three regions; Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua. This low-level population maximizes the effectiveness of the sterile moth component, when it becomes available, in further reducing the population and ultimately achieving the goal of eradication.