Ag Tech News
Ag Tech News: New Technology Could Improve Insect Control in Cotton
Jackson, Tenn. – According to researchers with the University Of Tennessee Institute Of Agriculture, a new biotech
trait currently in the development stage could provide improved control of thrips and plant bugs in cotton.
The new Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) technology, which is being developed by Monsanto, is commonly referred to as the
“Lygus trait” because it was originally developed to protect cotton from tarnished plant bugs (a Lygus species). However,
during field-testing, researchers also noted effects on thrips injury. In Mid-South cotton production, tarnished plant bugs
and thrips are the two most damaging insects.
Integrated Pest Management Coordinator with UTIA, Scott Stewart said “Our evaluations showed that this Bt trait provided
better plant protection than the best alternative control strategy. These findings have many people pretty excited.”
Crops with a Bt trait, have been modified to produce a protein that helps the plant mitigate the impact of certain insects
while also decreasing the need for insecticide applications. In recent evaluations, the untreated Bt cotton exhibited less
thrips damage than non-traited cotton that had received both an insecticide seed treatment and a foliar insecticide
application. This was true in both an early and late-planted test.
While this new trait is not commercially available, Stewart says the development of new insect control measures is especially
timely. There is increasing resistance of thrips to insecticide seed treatments, and Temik, the old standard insecticide for
thrips control in cotton, was withdrawn from the market in 2011.
Stewart says “It’s impressive technology, and it’s important to us now because we’re seeing issues with seed treatments
controlling thrips.” He adds that in-depth evaluations of the new Bt trait will continue at UT AgResearch and Education
Centers in Jackson and Milan, Tennessee.
At the Entomological Society of America’s South-eastern Branch Annual Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, Scott Graham,
graduate student in UT’s Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, presented the findings March 14. The research was
partially supported by the Monsanto Company. The presentation was titled, “The impact of a new Bt cotton trait on thrips
and their injury in seedling cotton.”