Project Overview
Information Products
Commodities
- Agronomic: cotton
Practices
- Crop Production: fertilizers, water management
- Pest Management: integrated pest management
Abstract:
Production of cotton requires some of the most intensive uses of pesticides and water resources of any major row crop in the southern United States. Improvement in the environmental stewardship of this crop would have substantial impacts upon the long term sustainability of agriculture. Many of the newly hired agents step into their roles without extensive education or practical background in row crop production, let alone with cotton. This project developed a set of 12 video training tools, along with revising and compiling Cooperative Extension bulletins pertinent to the video training tools. The training tools were designed to provide a platform for an Extension certificate program with new/young agents to improve and enhance there skills and knowledge about sustainable cotton production. In turn, they will become more effective in promoting those principles among their stakeholders. Developed educational material focus on practices and principles of sustainable cotton production based upon its economic viability, social consequences, and environmental impacts.
Project objectives:
The target audience will be county agents working in counties/parishes with cotton acreage, especially those agents with a limited background in the cotton industry. The goal will be to enhance the agents’ ability to create and deliver educational content that improves the sustainability of cotton production. Specific objectives are:
- Promote best management practices of cotton production.
- Improve the skills and knowledge of county agents in regards to the cotton industry and specifically sustainable production strategies.
- Reduction of unnecessary pesticide applications, inefficient use of synthetic fertilizers and water resources, and improvement of soil health in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana cotton fields.