CA Pink Bollworm Program Honored For Reducing Pesticide Use

Feb 01, 2017

California’s cooperative Pink Bollworm Program was one of six projects recognized by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) at an award ceremony to honor efforts to manage pests while reducing the use of pesticides.

The awards – presented January 26 in Sacramento – recognize innovation, leadership, education and outreach by California-based organizations that carry out pest management. The six projects honored use integrated pest management (IPM) to manage pests, combining preventive and natural strategies such as releasing parasitic insects and providing habitat for natural predators.

The Pink Bollworm Program involves introducing sterile pink bollworm moths to fields to disrupt the pests’ ability to reproduce and spread in California’s main cotton-growing regions.

Sterile moths are produced at the CDFA/USDA PBW Rearing Facility in Phoenix, AZ. To determine where sterile moths need to be released, program personnel put out pheromone-baited insect traps. Sterile PBW moths are sent to California daily and released by aircraft over targeted areas determined by the trapping results.

The program has prevented pink bollworm moths from becoming established in California’s major cotton region without the use of conventional pesticides for more than 40 years.

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