Pest scouting

Insects produce chemicals called sex pheromones to help them locate suitable mates. Some male insects are able to detect female pheromones at extremely low concentrations from as far away as 5 miles. Professional pest scouts take advantage of this ability by using synthetic pheromones, placed in special traps, to attract and capture the males of a species. By monitoring daily capture rates to detect population fluctuations, they can adsise growers if and when control measures are necesary. ... 

Crop Protection. Cotton can be affected by insects (30), weeds, diseases (31), nematodes, and mycotoxins. About 90% of the U.S. cotton uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. This approach optimizes the total pest management system by utilizing all available tools, including rotation, crop residue destruction, maximum crop competitiveness, earliness, pest scouting, action thresholds, releases of beneficial insects, sterile insect releases, and selective crop protection chemistry. 

Hamer, J., ed. "Cotton Pest Management Scouting Handbook" Missisippi Coop. Extension Service (no date), 48 p. 

For the 2000 growing season, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the USDA surveyed adoption of individual IPM practices (USDA-NASS, 2001). A summary of results for the major field crops, fruits and nuts, and vegetables is presented in Table 32.5. The adoption of systematic scouting for pests (weeds, insects, or plant diseases) looks very promising. 

This system of integrated crop production places high demands on all aspects of crop production, including the controlled use of pesticides. Development and benefit from integrated pest management systems depend upon the combined efforts of the researcher, development and scouting persons and a highly trained farmer. 

An implicit assumption of IPM is that pesticides should only be used when necessary. Absence, or anticipated absence, of a given pest is a situation in which a pesticide application is not necessary. Even when a pest is present, control decisions can be made on the anticipated pest increase and the relationship between pest numbers and yield (see sections below). In practice, trained scouts can sample a given field by counting, measuring, or assessing pest density at selected locations. Growers themselves can also make the assessment. 

For a rapid response to scouting when pest populations exceed action thresholds this has been shown to be an effective way of reducing sprays on cotton (Matthews, 1996), and a quick response is needed if insect populations are rapidly reproducing. 

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