Welcome to our comprehensive guide on common cotton pests and their control. Cotton, one of the world’s most important cash crops, is prone to various pests that can cause significant damage. This blog will explore the damage symptoms, identification methods, pest cycles, treatment options, and effective control and management strategies. Farmers and enthusiasts can safeguard their cotton crops and optimize yields by understanding these aspects.
Common Cotton Damaging Pests and Control
Major and Common Damaging Insect Pest in Cotton
- Jassids (Amrasca biguttulla): These pests cause downward curling of leaves, yellowing, and hopper burn symptoms.
- Aphids (Aphis gossypii): Infestations of aphids lead to the downward curling of leaves and sticky bolls due to the deposition of honeydew.
- Whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci): Whiteflies cause distorted, wrinkled leaves with shiny white patches.
- Spotted and spiny bollworms (Earias vitella and Earias insulana): These bollworms leave bore marks in the main shoot, create feeding holes in floral buds, and block bolls with their excrement.
- American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera): Signs of this pest include little webbing on squares, flaring up of squares, and excessive shedding of bolls and buds.
- Pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella): Infected bolls exhibit rosette-like formations and movement between interloci.
- Semi-looper (Anomis flava): This pest causes significant loss of leaf area.
Semilooper Insect Pests and Control Methods in Cotton
Cotton Semilooper, Tarache notabilis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) The Cotton Semilooper is a minor pest of cotton found in Pakistan and India. The caterpillars are dark green with black and bright-yellow spots on their backs, creating a semi-looping movement as they crawl.
The adults are white moths with grey and brown spots on their wings. The pest is active from April to October, completing 4-5 generations yearly. The caterpillars feed on cotton leaves, leading to complete defoliation in severe infestations. Prevention measures include plowing the fields after the cotton harvest and crop rotation with clovers. Chemical control methods are similar to those used for the pink bollworm.
Green Semilooper, Anomis Flava (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) The Green Semilooper is a sporadic cotton pest in Africa, Asia, and Australia. The larvae feed on cotton leaves and other plants such as Hibiscus and Phaseolus. The larvae have pale-yellowish-green bodies with white lines on the dorsal surface, while the adult moths have small reddish-brown forewings.
The pest completes more than one generation in a crop season. Young larvae feed in groups, while mature larvae feed voraciously and can completely defoliate the plants. The control measures include avoiding cultivating preferred host plants, plowing infested crops, and spraying insecticides.
Bud Moth Prevention and Management in Cotton
Bud Moth, Phycita Infusella (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) The Bud Moth is a minor cotton pest in India that feeds on okra and other plants. The caterpillars create webbings around the young terminal growth of leaves and feed within them. The full-grown caterpillars are greenish with black fronts and brown stripes.
The adult moths are greyish-yellow with speckles and red wavy lines on the wings. The pest is active from April to October, completing 4-5 generations yearly. The webbing and feeding by the caterpillars inhibit plant growth, leading to poor flowering and fruiting. Control measures involve spraying insecticides.
Tobacco Caterpillar Control and Management in Cotton
Tobacco Caterpillar, Spodoptera Litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): The Tobacco Caterpillar is a polyphagous pest that causes serious damage to cotton from August to November. The larvae feed gregariously, skeletonizing the foliage, and disperse as they grow. They also damage buds, flowers, and green bolls. Prevention and control methods include avoiding cultivating preferred host plants, plowing infested crops, keeping fields free from weeds that act as alternate hosts, destroying egg masses and young larvae, and spraying insecticides.
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Cotton Grey Weevil Damage and Control Measures
Cotton Grey Weevil, Myllocerus Undecimpustulatus Faust (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): The Cotton Grey Weevil is a minor pest of cotton found throughout India. It attacks the plants both above and below the ground. The adult weevils are grey and around 3-6 mm long, while the grubs are white, legless, and cylindrical.
The pest is active from April to November, completing 3-4 generations yearly. The grubs feed on cotton seedling roots, destroying them, while the adults feed on leaves, buds, flowers, and young bolls. Control measures involve disturbing the soil to destroy eggs, grubs, and pupae and spraying insecticides.
Red Cotton Bug Damage, Control, and Management
Red Cotton Bug, Dysdercus cingulatus (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae): The Red Cotton Bug is a notorious cotton pest in India and other cotton-growing regions. The adult bugs have a striking red color with black markings and are about 10-12 mm long. They feed on cotton squares and bolls, sucking sap and injecting toxic saliva, which leads to shedding squares and bolls.
The pest is most active during the flowering and boll formation stages. Cultural practices such as timely and clean picking of cotton, destruction of alternate hosts, and removal of crop residues can help reduce infestation. Insecticide application is also used for control.
Whitefly Prevention and Management Strategies in Cotton
Whitefly, Bemisia Tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae): The Whitefly is a common cotton pest worldwide, causing significant damage. The adult whiteflies are tiny, about 1-2 mm long, with white wings and a yellow body. They suck sap from the undersides of leaves, causing yellowing, wilting, and stunted growth of plants.
They also excrete honeydew, promoting the growth of sooty mold and attracting ants. Whiteflies are known to transmit viral diseases to cotton plants. Control measures include cultural practices such as removing weeds and alternate hosts, using reflective mulches, yellow sticky traps, and applying insecticides.
Current Integrated Pest Management Strategies of Cotton
Current Practices in IPM of Cotton involve integrating various strategies for effective pest management. Sucking pests and bollworms are the main pests targeted throughout the crop growth stages. Natural control methods, such as the presence of predators like Chrysoperlacarnea etc, can significantly reduce early-season sucking pests. Maintaining a balanced predator-prey ratio is crucial for natural control. Utilizing cotton cultivars with resistance to pests like jassids and aphids can also be beneficial.
Cultural practices include removing cotton stubbles, deep plowing to expose bollworm populations, crop rotation, and early sowing on ridges and furrows. Proper spacing of varieties and hybrids is recommended for effective pest management. Biological control involves using mass-produced bioagents like Trichogrammachilonis and Braconbrevicornis, released at specific intervals to target bollworms. Botanical management includes using neem seed kernel extract and neem or karanj oil as antifeedants or deterrents against sucking pests and bollworms.
In case you missed it: Common Cotton Damaging Diseases: Symptoms, Spread, Treatment, Prevention, and Management
However, further research and demonstration are needed for consistent effectiveness. Chemical control strategies focus on efficient insecticide use and resistance management. Sucking pest-tolerant genotypes can allow for reduced spraying, followed by using recommended insecticides at specific crop growth stages. Organophosphorus insecticides and pyrethroids are used based on economic thresholds of insect pests. The timing of insecticide application is associated with crop development stages.
Conclusion
Effective management of common cotton insect pests involves identifying damage symptoms, understanding the pest cycle, implementing appropriate treatments, and adopting integrated pest management strategies to minimize damage and ensure sustainable cotton production.
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