Organic Cotton Cultivation & Natural Pest Slaying Options

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Eco-awareness and an increased demand for safer products continues to spread in the global marketplace, which could very well be why organic cotton is currently enjoying its well-deserved time in the limelight. Whether we slide underneath cozy organic cotton bed sheets, wrap ourselves in a downy-soft organic cotton bath towel or try on a simple organic t-shirt for size, the opportunities that today’s modern consumer has to purchase certified organic products has grown in leaps and bounds. They say that numbers don’t lie, a claim made even more concrete by the fact that global organic cotton sales in the retail market, which hovered at $1.9 billion back in the year 2007, climbed to $3.2 billion just one year later. As mainstream retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart and H&M hop on the organic cotton textile products bandwagon, global efforts to generate certified organic cotton crops will undoubtedly follow suit.

Of course, of all the crops that global citizens could rally around, it’s slightly unfortunate that organic cotton happens to be the one we’re clamoring for. Organic cultivation of cotton crops isn’t just incredibly labor-intensive, it’s also quite expensive to boot. The extra certification standards that farmers must adhere to, coupled with the great lengths that they must go to maintain nutrient levels and manage pests as naturally as possible makes the process far more challenging compared to the cultivation of its conventional cousin. To heap insult upon injury, cotton in general is notorious for its seemingly unquenchable thirst, which isn’t exactly good from a sustainability standpoint. All things considered, there is no question that organic cotton cultivation is far better for the environment. Take a look at the bullet points below for clarification – trust us, you’ll be a believer.

Cotton crops that are considered certified organic must be cultivated according to the following stringent guidelines:

• the entire process must cause the lowest impact possible on the environment
• no genetically engineered cotton seed can be used
• organic production standards must be fulfilled with third-party certification/confirmation
• no synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides can be applied to cotton crops or land
• land must remain pesticide and herbicide-free for a minimum of 3 years before crop can receive organic certification
• natural fertility and microbiology of the soil must be constantly maintained and replenished
• beneficial insects must be encouraged to thrive in an effort to manage undesirable pest populations more naturally

Required soil fertility techniques include:

• rotating cotton with other plantings (such as corn, vetch, soybeans or rye)
• cover cropping with leguminous plant matter, also known as high-nitrogen green manure (field peas, hairy vetch and crimson clover are common)
• augmenting nutrient content of land with animal manure
• incorporating indigenous rock powders into the land

Weed management techniques include:

• precision tillage (preplant and blind techniques) using tools such as rotary hoes and spring-tooth harrows
• crop rotation and cultivation, which both restore vital nutrients to the soil and keep unwanted weed growth at bay
• heat/flame weeding technology

Cotton pest management options include:

• trap cropping (aka companion planting) in which sacrificial plants are used to lure parasitic invaders away from cotton plants – once they do their job, they are tilled under the soil along with their freeloaders
• biodiversity-enhancing strip cropping (most commonly with alfalfa)
• managing border vegetation to ensure that naturally repelling, beneficial plants thrive
• using bio-pesticides such as natural bacteria, viruses, and fungal insect pathogens
• applying biodegradable insecticidal soap

So now that we’re all clear on why the entire cotton/organic farming process is so much better for the environment, there’s still the issue of belligerent pests to contend with. Naturally, high-tech caustic chemicals do the trick but they leave toxic footprints in their wake – and this has proven to do far more damage than just to insect populations. With their succulent stems and sticky-sweet nectar cups seducing insects from here to Timbuktu, cotton plants suffer from their fair share of hard-core sap-suckers and stem-slicers, which can spell almost certain crop failure. What’s an organic cotton farmer to do since they are not able to rely on the synthetic potions and powders that scientists in white suits have cooked up in their laboratories? Well, by fully subscribing to the work with nature, not against nature philosophy, organic cotton farmers can do some pretty amazing things to combat the hungriest and most destructive of Mother Nature’s undesirable pests. Who knew that common sense strategies could be so darned clever…

Organic management of bollworms, budworms and other stem-sucking pests:

• welcome multi-purpose natural predators like spiders, ants, wasps, lacewing larvae, ladybirds, parasitic flies, assassin and damsel bugs, beetles, etc. into cotton crops
• plant trap crops (as stated above) that are especially appealing to these little buggers, such as sunflowers, hibiscus, corn, okra, pigeon peas and/or sorghum
• neem spray and coriander seed spray are particularly repulsive to these little guys
• the natural biopesticides HNPV (Heliothis nuclear polyhedrosis virus), Beauveria bassiana and B.t (Bacillus thuringiensis) are all effective destruction agents

Organic management of boll weevils:

• pluck the little stinkers off of each cotton plant by hand – time consuming, yes, but oh so satisfying
• use pheromone traps (types such as Grandlure are highly effective)
• remove all traces of previous cotton crop so that your field lays fallow during winter time (boll weevils will not be able to hunker down in these conditions)
• natural repellants such as fish oil emulsion and garlic oil are somewhat effective
• introduce the parasitic insects Bracon mellitor and Catolaccus grandis into crops since they like to make mincemeat of boll weevils
• diatomaceous earth mixed with pyrethrum (derived from dried C. cinerariifolium and C. coccineum flower heads) is also quite a good boll weevil destruction agent

Organic management of cutworms:

• welcome natural predators, such as birds, spiders, ladybugs, lacewing larvae and minute pirate bugs
• create a natural pesticide bait which incorporates Bacillus thuringiensis into a mixture of molasses and oats
• apply powdered or liquid chrysanthemum extract, thyme oil, Chinese rice flower bush, mock lime, neem oil or any combination of plant extracts such as sweet potato or tomato leaf, marigold, thorn or custard apple, chili, lantana or ginger
• introduce the parasitic nematode Steinerema carpocapsae into the cotton crop
• Beauveria bassiana, an insect-disease causing fungus, brings cutworms to their knees

Organic management of thrips:

• strip crop with lupine plants since they offer habitat for aphids and other thrip-munchers
• plant trap crops like mustard and sunflower
• apply flour-soap spray or simple H20-soap spray (works well on whiteflies and spider mites)
• spray plants with neem oil, garlic-pepper tea, pyrethrum and or sabadilla
• dust plants with ash
• apply Spinosad (which is fermented Actinomyces bacteria derived from soil)

For even more hard-core juicy information on how to plot your organic cotton pest slaying strategies, your friendly Agriculture Guide recommends exploring the following phenomenally comprehensive resources: “Organic Cotton Production” courtesy of ATTRA and “Organic Cotton Crop Pest Management” courtesy of OISAT. Don’t forget – if you have not yet gotten your cotton fix, be sure to review Agriculture Guide’s past coverage on this very topic, including the always entertaining “Cotton Pests That Deserve The Royal Stink Eye” and the illuminating “Conventional Cotton Farming Suffers From Toxic Flaws”. We bid you great success in your organic cotton growing adventures and on behalf of Mother Nature, we thank you kindly for your eco-commitment! Please share some warm-and-fuzzies by telling your fellow agriculture enthusiasts about us!

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