How to Manage Pests

UC Pest Management Guidelines

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Cotton

Crop Rotation

(Reviewed 5/13, updated 5/13)

In this Guideline:

Rotate your cotton crop as needed with other field or vegetable crops to maintain soil productivity and reduce the incidence of various cotton pests such as nematodes, Verticillium wilt, seedling diseases, pink bollworm and other diseases. Different rotational crops impart different benefits to the soil and therefore to subsequent seasons of cotton production:

  • Pest resistant crops: suppression of various cotton pests
  • Cereals: have fibrous root systems that loosen compacted soil
  • Legumes (such as alfalfa, beans): add nitrogen to soil
  • Grain corn: adds organic matter to soil
  • Vegetable crops: contribute high fertilizer carryover
Rotation Crops for Reducing the Incidence of Various Cotton Pathogens.
  Nematodes Seedling Diseases
Rotational Crops Root knot nematode Verticillium wilt Rhizoctonia and Pythium Thielaviopsis basicola Fusarium wilt
Small grains and summer fallow satisfactory satisfactory satisfactory some some
Winter small grains grown as silage some some some some some
Resistant cowpea cvs.
California blackeye CB 46, CB 27, CB 50, and CB 5 		satisfactory satisfactory minimal some some
Corn satisfactory satisfactory satisfactory satisfactory some
Sorghum and sudangrass satisfactory satisfactory satisfactory satisfactory some
Alfalfa satisfactory some satisfactory some some
Onions and garlic minimal satisfactory minimal satisfactory some
Clean fallow (weed-free) some some some some minimal
Root-knot-resistant cultivars of processing tomatoes some minimal minimal minimal race 1: satisfactory
race 4: some
Key to ratings:
satisfactory = significant suppressive activity but does not control
some = has an inhibitory effect but less than satisfactory
minimal = has very little effect

PUBLICATION

[UC Peer Reviewed]

UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Cotton
UC ANR Publication 3444

General Information

  • L. D. Godfrey, Entomology, UC Davis
  • P. B. Goodell, UC IPM Program and Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Parlier
  • E. T. Natwick, UC Cooperative Extension - Desert Research and Extension Center, Imperial County
  • D.R. Haviland, UC Cooperative Extension, Kern County and UC IPM Program

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