Egyptian cotton leafworm: Integrated control and the agricultural production system

Many problems of agricultural production can be understood and solved only by understanding the overall production systems of which they are parts. An example is the Egyptian cotton leafworm, which is one of the main pests on the cotton crop in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The main control methods now used against this insect are hand-picking of egg-masses and aerial spraying of pesticides. Both are intensive, and little increase in their efficiency is possible. The structure of the cropping system is such that relatively minor alterations in the crop rotation may have a marked impact on leafworm population dynamics at relatively low cost. The technical issues involved in these alterations are well within the realms of possibility. But to implement them would require the development of a comprehensive view of the agricultural production system as a whole, a high sensitivity to the needs and decision-making frameworks of the Egyptian fellah, and an understanding of the biology of the cotton leafworm.