ABSTRACT

There were 12,058,000 acres of U.S. Cotton (Upland and Pima) harvested with an average of 725 lb lint/acre (USDA – January 2004 report) in 2003.

Arthropod pests of cotton reduced yield by 4.16% in 2003. The bollworm/budworm complex reduced yields by 1.39%. The bollworm was the predominant species to attack cotton in 2003. Bollworms were estimated to make up 86% of the population. No other pest exceeded 1% in reducing yields. Lygus (0.90%) were 2^nd in losses. Stink bugs (0.735%) were 3^rd and cotton fleahoppers (0.322%) were 4^th respectively. Thrips (0.261%) rounded out the top five cotton insect pests for the year. Beltwide, direct insect management costs amounted to $58.88/acre. Cost plus loss is estimated at $1.076 billion. (see M.R. Williams, this proceedings).