Zone management approaches in IPM of tarnished plant bug in midsouth cotton

Crop production decisions have grown more complex as advanced spatial technologies have become available. Zone management for agronomic inputs has become standard on many Midsouth cotton [Gossypium hirsutum] farms. Use of site specific approaches for insect control is lacking. This presentation will summarizes a simple zone approach for control tactics for tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), a key pest of Midsouth cotton. Zone management for insecticide control termination was evaluated in irrigated and rainfed management zones in a center pivot irrigated field during the three growing seasons in Northeast Arkansas. A replicated strip trial across center pivot irrigated “circles” and rainfed “corners” was used to validate the use of NAWF-based measures of crop maturity to time the final late-season insecticide applications. In the three year study, no reduction in yield was associated with following crop termination rules using the crop monitoring to determine date of physiological cutout and terminating control after last effective bolls had accumulated 250 DD60s. These data support adoption of a zone management approach in late season crop protection practices. Producers that have auto-guidance technology can employ map-based selective applications to apply protectants only to areas of the field still vulnerable to late season infestations. Adoption of this approach will allow producers to offset rising protection costs (there was a 13 % reduction in cost for 1 to 2  applications)  as well as reduce environmental impact of insecticide applications at the edge-of field demonstrated using the Field Print Calculator.