There is always a need to evaluate cotton pest management systems because the component parts are always changing. At the Northeast Research Station, St. Joseph, Louisiana, we have worked with new varieties, insecticides, herbicides and vastly improved harvest aids within the last decade. Currently there is increased interest in reduced tillage of cotton, substantial acreage will be affected by new crop systems which place increased dependence on herbicides instead of tillage for weed management. Each production component may cause significant interactions with the numerous pests affecting mid-south cotton production. Presently analysis of these interactions is being studied by (a)analysis of pest management strategies which are heavily dependent on chemicals and (b) analysis of strategies which blend chemical usage and host plant resistance.

My objectives today will be: (1) to illustrate how stochastic dominance techniques were used to select the best yield probabilities for profit from 32 possible pest management strategies and (2) to discuss current efforts to optimize the results by developing pest management strategies which combine profitable chemical control strategies with a cotton strain that possesses multiple host plant resistance traits for Heliothis spp. and boll weevils. First year results of a study with LA 850075 fg are discussed.