Pink Bollworm Eradication Ceremony, on June 11, 2019, in Fabens, TX. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach will participate on behalf of Secretary Sonny Perdue to mark this historic occasion and help Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recognize partner contributions.
U.S. cotton production accounts for nearly 30 percent of global trade in raw cotton and $27 billion in products and services annually. It also provides hundreds of thousands of jobs across many sectors. Pink bollworm is a significant pest of cotton that was not successfully controlled until APHIS, the state departments of agriculture, and the cotton industry mounted a coordinated and integrated pest management program. The eradication of pink bollworm is the direct result of this cooperative effort. APHIS’ contributions include establishing domestic regulations and releasing sterile pink bollworm moths over infested areas.
Pink bollworm was first detected in Hearne, Texas, in 1917. It most likely migrated there from Mexico. Extensive efforts by Extension in coordination with individual producers eliminated the infestation in Texas and an infestation found in Louisiana in 1919. In the 1930s, the pest re-invaded the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. By the mid-1950s, the pest had spread to surrounding states and eventually reached California in 1963. Many of these infestations were suppressed through cooperative federal, state, and industry programs.
In 1955, APHIS established a domestic pink bollworm quarantine for infested states. Since 2000, APHIS has worked closely with the state departments of agriculture in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, and the cotton industry to carry out rigorous control and regulatory activities aimed at eliminating pink bollworm from these States, which were the only ones that remained under quarantine.
As a result of these cooperative efforts, APHIS lifted the domestic quarantine for pink bollworm on September 26, 2018from Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. A small wild pink bollworm colony exists in the Florida Everglades where there is no commercial cotton production. The area will remain under state quarantine.
Awards were presented to the following organizations:
• Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation
• South Central New Mexico Cotton Boll Weevil Control Committee
• Texas Department of Agriculture
• New Mexico Department of Agriculture
• Offices of the Texas and New Mexico State Plant Health Directors (PPQ)
Attendees:
UNDER SECRETARY Greg Ibach
APHIS Deputy Administrator Osama El-Lissy
Industry
• Mr. Jim Ed Miller, Texas Cotton Producer
• Dr. Don Parker, Manager, Integrated Pest Management, Pink Bollworm Action Committee; Pink Bollworm Technical Advisory Committee Member, National Cotton Council
• Mr. Larry E. Smith, Program Director, Pink Bollworm Technical Advisory Committee Member, Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation
• Mr. Samuel Carr, Texas Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member
• Mr. Keith Deputy, New Mexico Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member
• Mr. Robert Sloan, New Mexico Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member
• Mr. Larry Turnbough, Texas Cotton Producer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Member
• Mr. Lindy Patton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Advisor, Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation
• Mr. Patrick Sullivan, Director, Pink Bollworm Action Committee Advisor, South Central NM Cotton Boll Weevil Control Committee
• Xavier Jurado, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer
• Al Alvarez, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer
• Willie Hernandez, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer
• Dosi Alvarez, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer
• Marty Sweetser, Board Member, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee and cotton producer
• Joe Friesen, Retired Director, South Central NM Pink Boll Worm Control Committee
TX Department of Agriculture
• Jason Fearneyhough, Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture, Texas Dept. of Agriculture
• Dale Scott, Director For Environmental and Biosecurity Program,
• Dr. Awinash Bhatkar, SPRO, Awinash Bhatkar, Awinash.
• Patrick Dudley, Coordinator For Agriculture Commodity Boards & Producer Relations, Texas Department of Agriculture, Patrick.
N.M. Department of Agriculture
• Secretary Jeff Witte, New Mexico Department of Agriculture
• Mr. Brad Lewis, State Plant Regulatory Official, New Mexico Department of Agriculture
• Ryan Hiles, New Mexico Department of Agriculture
Academia
• Dr. Charles Allen, Professor, Assoc. Dept. Head and Extension Entomologist, Chairman, Pink Bollworm Technical Advisory Committee; Pink Bollworm Action Committee Advisor, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
APHIS
• Osama El-Lissy
• Stuart Kuehn
• Waleska Ramirez
• Dr. Karen Maguylo, National Cotton Pests Coordinator
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung. Original public domain image from Flickr