By Clint Thompson
The cotton jassid is the newest threat to Georgia’s cotton industry. It has forced University of Georgia entomologist Phillip Roberts to redirect all of his resources this year to learn more about the pest and what can be done to halt its impact on the cotton industry.
“There’s no question that this insect has really exploded in some areas. It’s an economic pest,” said Roberts, who discussed the pest during the UGA Cotton and Peanut Field Day on Wednesday in Tifton, Georgia. “We did talk about it at the Georgia Cotton Commission annual meeting in January, and we talked about it at the Georgia Cotton Commission mid-year meeting in middle of July.
“We have had to treat a lot of acres. The epicenter has been the east of Tifton, northeast of Tifton. It far exceeded what I thought would happen.”
Roberts recommends that growers scout and sample the fourth leaf below the terminal. The economic threshold is 1 to 2 per leaf, and fields have gone from green to red in two weeks as a result of the pest’s feeding damage.
“Somehow the insect got here. It is an interesting question of why east Georgia? The main thing is that they’re here. Farmers need to be on high alert. One thing with this insect, in general, it tends to infect field edges first,” Roberts said. “Farmers really need to be looking for these early symptoms. We’ll see some symptoms on the outer margins of leaves. It almost looks like a nutrient deficiency. Once you see the edges start to fire up, you need to be watching that field very closely.”
Roberts stressed that the insect is impacting production now, just a few weeks away from harvest season for some growers. Insecticides are available, though, they are not cheap.
“Right now, we believe we need to be concerned with this pest up until two weeks prior to the earliest time you can defoliate the crop. It’s a lot longer than other insect pests like stinkbugs,” Roberts said. “We can control the insect, but it’s an added expense. The cotton industry doesn’t need added expenses where we are today. The price of cotton is very tough. Cotton is in a very difficult position, and this is not helping matters.”