Authors: Respectively, Extension Weed Scientist/Assistant
Professor, Department of Extension Plant Sciences; Graduate
student, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences;
Extension Agronomist/Assistant Professor, Department of
Extension Plant Sciences; and Program Manager, Pesticide
Registration, Endangered Species and Pesticide Disposal, New
Mexico Department of Agriculture, all of New Mexico State
University. Cotton (Gossypium spp.; Figure 1) has played an
important role in the U.S. economy for more than 200 years. In
the colonial period, due to lack of profitability, cotton
plantations were mainly concentrated in the eastern U.S.
However, as a result of techno-economical advancements, cotton
production rapidly expanded throughout the southern and
southwestern parts of the country, and today cotton is a vital
agricultural commodity for many growers in these areas. In New
Mexico, the commercial production of cotton started in early
1900, and since 1922 it has become a major socio-economic crop
in the sta