Insects-Crop Pests
Many different species of insect pests attack crops. Each of these pests is capable of causing economic yield loss, and some are capable of totally destroying a crop. Knowing when to treat for insect pests in crops is vital to keeping yields high and controlling the costs of agricultural production.
Control insects in cotton, soybeans, corn, grain sorghum, wheat, sweet potatoes, rice, peanuts, and pastures with the following information produced by MSU Extension.
Publications
News
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Cotton will always have challenges, but few of them will ever compare to the boll weevils that thrived in Mississippi from 1904 until 2009.
“It is nearly impossible for this younger generation of consultants, scouts and growers to understand how hard boll weevils were to control and how much boll weevil control hurt beneficial insects and complicated cotton management,” said Will McCarty, who served as the Mississippi State University Extension Service cotton specialist during “the boll weevil wars.”
MACON, Miss. -- Farmers' independent natures make them strong, but when agricultural producers join forces, they can take success to the next level.
Darrin Dodds, cotton specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, commended Mississippi farmers for their efforts to unite in the battle to eradicate boll weevils from the state.
“Historically, boll weevils were the prime pest in cotton fields. To control them, it took numerous pesticide applications,” he said. “Those treatments were costly and ate into the growers’ profit margins.”
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Farmers in Mississippi and the Southeast are urged to scout their fields closely for the redbanded stinkbug, a very damaging pest of soybeans that is being found in increasing numbers across the region.
Mississippi State University Extension Service specialists and researchers joined with their counterparts and crop consultants from Arkansas and Louisiana Thursday for an emergency forum on this dangerous insect.
STONEVILLE, Miss. -- In response to producer concern over a significant agricultural pest, the Mississippi State University Extension Service will host a forum on Aug. 17.
The free ArkLaMiss Emergency Forum on Redbanded stink bugs will be at 2 p.m. at the Capps Center in Stoneville on the campus of the Delta Research and Extension Center. University researchers, Extension specialists and crop consultants from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi will share the latest data and management recommendations.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Although 2016 brought unusually heavy infestations of and damage from fall armyworms, vigilance and prompt treatment can limit damage this year.
Blake Layton, entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said fall armyworms were a problem in commercial hayfields, home lawns, sports fields, golf courses and commercial landscapes last year.
Success Stories
When Mississippi achieved statehood in 1817, its cotton industry was only beginning to take off. By 1917, boll weevils were devastating the state’s cotton crop and its economy.
