THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602070143
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Southside cotton farmers are preparing for the worst this year: the return of the boll weevil.
About 160 local farmers attended a cotton meeting recently in Windsor to hear agriculture experts speak on cotton-related topics, including the spread of the boll weevil in Virginia.
Virginia's cotton crop was only slightly hurt by the dull-gray insects last year. State agriculture officials said that, with more than 90 percent of Virginia's 106,000 cotton acres harvested, only 343 boll weevils were found - on 770 acres in Greensville, Brunswick and Sussex counties.
The officials speculate that the weevil returned to Virginia by hitchhiking on farm equipment brought in from other states.
More weevils are expected to be found this year, but the experts hope they will be found only in last year's infested fields.
``There's no doubt that we'll trap some weevils this spring,'' said Jim Pierce, regional supervisor for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Franklin. ``But there's no doubt that we'll eliminate them, too.''
The boll weevil, about 1/4-inch long, punctures cotton bolls and lays eggs in them, causing the cotton to fall from the plant.
Virginia cotton farmers are required to participate in a boll weevil eradication program that monitors cotton fields by setting one trap for every 10 acres. Farmers paid $3.25 per acre last year to have the traps checked every two weeks by independent contractors.
Southampton County farmer Larry Whitley said the early detection of last year's weevils probably will save many farmers from disaster this year.
``The boll weevil is our No. 1 concern for this year's cotton crop,'' said Whitley, who grows 650 acres in Southampton County. ``If we don't get it under control real quick, it will devastate Virginia's cotton crop. The cost of spraying for the insect would take all the profit out of growing cotton.''
Greensville County farmer W.A. ``Doc'' Robertson, 71, knows the cost of fighting the weevil.
In the 1970s, his crop suffered such extensive damage from weevils that he stopped farming cotton for two years, until the eradication program was initiated in 1978.
``It got pretty bad,'' he recalled. ``We sprayed some fields 10 times, and there was still a lot of damage. Cotton just wasn't worth growing then.''
So last year, when weevils were found just six miles from the 250 acres Robertson has in cotton, his old fear returned.
``I knew we just had to get on it because I know what they can do. They can completely destroy a crop.''
One of the problems in fighting weevils is that they multiply so quickly, said Ames Herbert, of the Tidewater Agriculture Experiment Station in Suffolk. He gave this scenario for one growing season without treatment:
``One female can lay 150 eggs. If you have 25 females that lay 150 eggs each, they could hatch into 3,000 weevils,'' taking into account that not all eggs will hatch. ``If 3,000 females lay 150 eggs, they could hatch into 180,000 weevils. If 180,000 females lay 150 eggs, the number goes to 10.8 million weevils.''
But many Southside farmers are confident the eradication program will stop the spread of the insect.
``It's getting close,'' said Isle of Wight farmer Chuck Griffin, ``but I really feel that with the eradication program in place, they have a good handle on the problem.''
The weevil migrated from Mexico to the United States in the 19th century, spreading from eastern Texas to North Carolina in about 25 years.
About the same time, Virginia cotton peaked in 1922 with 125,000 acres. When the boll weevil entered Virginia around 1925, acreage began to drop.
By 1977, only 150 acres of cotton were being grown in Virginia. In 1979, the last cotton gin closed.
Agriculture experts blame the decline in acreage on the rising costs of production and the spread of the boll weevil.
Although the eradication program was initiated in 1978 and the weevil was eradicated in Virginia in 1982, farmers didn't start growing cotton again until 1989.
The resurgence of cotton comes at a time when farmers need it most. With the federal peanut program in jeopardy and because cotton is a good rotation crop for peanuts, its return as a principal crop has raised many area farmers' hopes.
Bobby Flippen, general manager at Southside Gin in Emporia, said he believes some good will come from the weevil returning to Virginia.
``We will have a more precise containment program from now on - to make sure no more weevils get back in. It's good that everyone has some concern because farmers can help contain the weevils.'' by CNB