The sweetpotato whitefly (SPW), Bemisia tabaci Gennadius, attacks commercial cotton, vegetable and ornamental crops, as well as numerous weed hosts and home owner ornamental plants in the United States. Multiple hosts, inter- and intrahost dispersal, insecticide resistance, and underleaf habitat behavior have made the SPW particularly difficult to control. The occurrence of a currently considered new biotype(s) with a wider host range and different biological characteristics further complicates the problem. New evidence suggests that a new species may exist. Reduced yields and quality in cotton and virus vector associated disease occurrence in a number of vegetable crops account for severe economic losses. Improved application technology to provide canopy penetration and underleaf coverage, new chemistry insecticides and existing insecticides with different modes of action for use in insecticide-resistance management systems are being researched to provide emergency control methodology. The long-term solution to the SPW problem is dependent upon our efforts to develop critical information on basic SPW biology and to identify factors mediating SPW behavior, and influencing biological control agent efficacy in crop management systems. Overwintering SPW biology, ecology, host plant interactions and natural enemy impact are particular areas of research need. A broad germplasm base for selection of tolerant cotton plant types appears to exist and needs to be exploited. Manipulation of cultivated crop planting sequences and cultural practices are also areas of investigation that may reveal potential for reducing SPW populations. A multi-agency national 5-year plan involving USDA agencies, state agricultural experiment stations, state agencies, industry and the private sector has been developed and implemented to achieve these goals and objectives.