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From: "ARS News Service"
To: "ARS News List"
Subject: Mineral Film Foils Cotton Pests
Date: Mon, Mar 19, 2001, 2:58 AM
STORY LEAD:
Mineral Film Foils Cotton Pests
___________________________________________
ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
March 19, 2001
Ben Hardin, (309) 681-6597, bhardin@ars.usda.gov
___________________________________________
A nontoxic white mineral called kaolin may one day equal insecticides at
preventing boll weevils and other pests from attacking cotton plants. In
laboratory and small-scale field tests, Agricultural Research Service
scientists found that the weevils tended to overlook plants coated each
week with a spray mixture of the light-reflective kaolin and water. The
weevils usually went elsewhere to feed and lay their eggs.
Cotton farmers normally spray entire fields five to seven times in
boll-weevil-infested areas. Farmers begin spraying when pinhead-sized
cotton buds, called squares, appear, and they continue spraying until bolls
are formed and ready to bloom. Entomologist Allan Showler at the Kika de la
Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, Weslaco, Texas, envisions
spraying portions of fields with kaolin, possibly diverting the weevils to
cotton trap crop areas sprayed with insecticides. The idea may become more
practical when researchers find a way to curb rain from washing off kaolin,
so it can be applied fewer times per season.
Showler found that most boll weevils avoided physical contact with cotton
squares that had been sprayed with a commercial kaolin formulation. He
concluded that the kaolin likely made the squares less visually appealing.
Kaolin is now federally registered for use in suppressing insect damage to
a number of fruit and vegetable crops. Growers meeting organic standards
have also accepted it.
ARS scientists Michael Glenn and Gary J. Puterka at Kearneysville, W.Va.,
conceived the idea of using inert films made from kaolin to ward off
insects and disease. Research and development resulted in seven patent
applications filed jointly by ARS and Engelhard Corporation of Iselin, N.J.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
___________________________________________
Scientific contact: Allan Showler, ARS Kika de la Garza Subtropical
Agricultural Research Center, Weslaco, Texas; phone (956) 969-4812, fax
(956) 969-4800, ashowler@weslaco.ars.usda.gov.
___________________________________________
> Mineral Film Foils Cotton Pests
> ___________________________________________
> A nontoxic white mineral called kaolin
Isn't kaolin the white clay used for pottery?
Carol
