Seedling Disease Wallop

WITH THE higher cost of cotton seed and transgenic technology, the decision to protect against seedling disease is getting easier for most cotton growers. However, the seedling disease complex still took a toll on cotton last season, reducing yields by just over 4% Beltwide. That amounts to about 854,777 bales or $333.4 million.

The hardest hit state in 2003 was Tennessee, with 261,146 bales, or 22%, of yield lost, amounting to $101.8 million. The state's losses accounted for 30% of the national total. The start of the season was cool and very wet, the perfect breeding ground for seedling disease.

According to Dr. Melvin Newman, University of Tennessee agronomist, he probably sounds like a broken record because he is saying that 2003 was the worst ever when it comes to seedling disease. He said that same thing after the 2002 season. In 2002, the state lost 20% of its yield to seedling disease.