Pest Management Enterprises, Inc., is an agricultural consulting firm located in Central Louisiana. The firm was established in April of 1975 and acts solely as a service company to Central Louisiana growers and the agricultural industry. Services provided include soil, weed, disease and insect management advice to grower clients and independent contract research services to the agrichemical industry. Data utilized in this presentation were obtained from the results of research conducted for the past three years as well as commercial grower use of ULV-vegetable oil application technique for the past two years.

From 1980 through 1982, five separate field studies were conducted comparing the ULV-vegetable oil and conventional water application technique for cotton insect control. Four of the trials were aerial application comparisons and one study in 1982 was conducted using ground application equipment. Total volume applied per acre was one quart where oil was used as the carrier and 2-5 gallons where water was used as the carrier. Plot size in the aerial trials ranged from 10-20 acres per treatment and the ground application study was replicated small plots (approximately 2-3 acres/treatment).

Insecticides utilized in all of the trials consisted exclusively of the synthetic pyrethroids. Variable rates of toxicant were used in the 1980 and 1981 studies whereas all of the 1982 trials were conducted utilizing 0.1 lb. ai/A.

Yield results from the 1980-1982 trials (Table 1) reflected 91, 40 and 102 pounds of lint cotton per acre more where vegetable oil was used as the carrier compared to conventional water carrier. These results were consistent year after year regardless of rate of chemical used.

Similarly, in the 1982 ground application study, more cotton (160 pounds of seed cotton per acre) was harvested from the vegetable oil treatment than the conventional water treatment.