ABSTRACT
BACTEC CORPORATION manufactures patented Bacillus thuringlensis products (BACTEC BERNAN BTs) under license agreements with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These new BTs were selected and isolated by scientists of the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). In over 325 private and university field tests during 1989 - 1991, BACTEC BERNAN BTs have been proven 64% of the time to be more efficacious and 94% of the time to be equal to or more efficacious than the commercial standard B.t.s. BACTEC was granted an Experimental Use Permit (EUP) by the E,P.A. in April of 1991, and several large plot, onfarm verification trials were set up across the Cotton Belt using a low rate multiple application (LMRA), short interval program. The BACTEC BTs were predominantly used in combination with LARVIN at ovicidal rates and compared to conventional synthetic organic insecticide (SOI) programs. The results demonstrated a $65 per acre more favorable economic return for the LRMA BACTEC BERNAN BT program versus the conventional SOI program.
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