November, 1995
Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture
9200 Edmonston Road, #117
Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 441-8777
E-mail: hawiaa@access.digex.net
Federal and Texas state agriculture officials are disputing the report of two USDA scientists who say that an infestation of the beet armyworm on cotton crops in the Rio Grande Valley is the result of heavy applications of the pesticide malathion, used to eradicate the boll weevil. While the boll weevil populations were practically eliminated in the Rio Grande Valley and the San Angelo area, the region became infested with the beet armyworm, according to The New York Times (October 9, 1995). A report by two USDA scientists, K.R. Summy and J.R. Raulston, "concluded that the heavy use of pesticide, including the application of malathion for boll weevil eradication, was 'the primary causal factor for the beet armyworm outbreak' in the Rio Grande Valley." They said the malathion caused "a disruption of the beneficial insect complex that normally suppresses the beet armyworm." Their report was disputed by officials at the USDA and the Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, who have ordered a new study.