Compatible with glyphosate

BIOPEST^®  is an effective early season sucking pest suppression product in mixtures with glyphosate. Weeds such as bladder ketmia provide an alternate host for pests like whitefly so the aim should be to achieve 100% control, with BIOPEST^®  providing useful reduction in sucking pest numbers.

BIOPEST^®  has been proven in field trial work to be safe to cotton plants when applied in mixtures with Roundup Ready^® herbicides or Weedmaster DST^®, with no evidence of any leaf damage observed.

Whitefly, aphids and mirids

Like aphids, whitefly produce honeydew which is difficult to remove during ginning. Mirids cause early season damage to terminals and buds and mid to late season damage to squares and small bolls (see Figure 1).

BIOPEST^®  is registered for control of sucking pests like whitefly, aphids and mirids in a range of crops, including cotton. BIOPEST^®  reduces settlement of adult sucking pests, decreasing oviposition and abates the transmission of virus. BIOPEST^®  can cause direct mortality to all immature life stages of a number of sucking pests once the lifestages come into contact with the BIOPEST^®  sprayed on the leaf surfaces. Targeting infested leaf surfaces will reduce the number of immature pests reaching adult stage.

Compatible with insecticides

BIOPEST^®  has been proven in field trial work in the 2014 and 2015 seasons to provide effective control of a range of sucking pests including mirids and whitefly, both alone and in mixtures with insecticides (see Charts 1 and 2). In our February 2015 whitefly work, BIOPEST^®  alone was found to be as effective in controlling of whitefly as commonly used insecticides.

Safe on beneficials

Late season pests, such as mirids and whitefly, are generally not an issue in conventional cotton due to the use of a broader range of larvicides. There are a number of predators that prey on sucking pests – ideally a sustainable whitefly management strategy should aim to preserve these.
BIOPEST^®  has been proven to be extremely soft on beneficials.

Further research

SACOA continue to invest in the Australian cotton industry with ongoing research into pest management. Whitefly and mealy bug are the focus for the 2015/16 season.

References

COTTON CRC
www.cottoncrc.org.au/industry/Publications/Pests_and_Beneficials/Cotton_Insect_Pest_and_Beneficial_Guide/Pests_by_common_name/Whitefly
Kalyx Report – KA14-1127: Biopest RR mixtures for whitefly suppression in cotton
Kalyx Report – W12-474: Use of Biopest in Glyphosate mixtures. March 2013
Kalyx Report – KA13-827: Biopest for green mirids in cotton. May 2014