Texas Boll Weevil
eradication Foundation, Inc.

Welcome

Welcome to the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Program web site. This site has been developed to provide information to cotton producers and the general public about the process and progress of boll weevil eradication across the state.

2009 Program Year End Summary

At the recent 2010 Beltwide Cotton Conference in New Orleans, Program Director Larry Smith delivered an update on boll weevil eradication program activities through 2009. According to Smith, the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation (TBWEF) completed a successful year.

In 2009, boll weevil eradication activities were carried out in all Texas and eastern New Mexico cotton fields, on a total of 5,410,346 certified cotton acres. For the year, every zone reported either no weevil captures, or reductions in boll weevil captures compared to 2008.
Four New Mexico and 11 West Texas zones are approaching program completion. In addition, strong progress was made in the Northern Blacklands (NBL) and Upper Coastal Bend (UCB) zones in 2009. In 2010, program operations in South Texas/Winter Garden, UCB, NBL, and Southern Blacklands will concentrate on identification, trapping and treatment of all cotton (including volunteer cotton in other crops and non-crop areas) and working with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to achieve early, thorough stalk destruction.

As boll weevils are being reduced to below economic damage levels in all areas of the state, Texas cotton producers have set all-time production records in three of the last six years.

It is clear that boll weevil eradication is critical to the sustainability of cotton production in Texas and that the elimination of the boll weevil is a key factor that has enabled growers to produce these record crops. Equally essential, however, is the partnership that exists between cotton growers and the boll weevil eradication program. This partnership is the cornerstone of the program and fundamental to the successes we've seen thus far.