Cotton, the commercial crop is the backbone of the textile industry as it employs vast majority of population directly or indirectly and earns the foreign exchange too.The major use of cotton today is in the textile industry, the fibers or ‘lints’ of the cotton plant are harvested and woven into fabric for the production of clothing, towels, bed sheets and many other textiles. Cotton fiber may also be used in the production of yarn and twine. The cotton seeds can be used to extract oil for use in the production of shortening or cooking oil and the manufacture of soaps and lubricants. The seed may be used as a feed for livestock. Cotton is susceptible to a wide range of insect pests. Among the most destructive are the cotton bollworm, plant bugs, stink bugs, aphids, thrips and spider mites. The insect pests spectrum of cotton is quite complex and as many as 1326 species of insect pests have been listed on this crop throughout the world. However, main losses in cotton production are due to its susceptibility to about 162 species of insect pests.

Cotton bollworm is the major pest of cotton. Cotton bollworm moths are about 0.75 inch long, with a wing span of 1 to 1.5 inches. Eggs are spherical, flattened, with 10 to 15 perpendicular rows of toothed ribs. Newly hatched, first-instar larvae have several rows of dark tubercles along the back, each bearing one or two bristles. Larvae range from olive green to dark reddish brown in color and can be best distinguished from most other caterpillars by the tiny spines, visible under a hand lens, that cover most of the body surface. Bollworm larvae must be at least in the third instar in order to be distinguishable from the budworm. It’s larvae damage bolls and squares. Larvae chew holes into the base of bolls and may hollow out locks. Moist frass usually accumulates around the base of the boll. Larvae may also chew shallow gouges in the boll surface, which can become infected with rot organisms. Squares injured by cotton bollworm usually have a round hole near the base. Fifth-instar larvae are the most destructive; they not only damage more fruit than do earlier instars, but they damage larger fruit that are harder for the plant to replace.

Now management of cotton bollworm is easy. Hpm’s Permit 99 is provide complete protection from all types of bollworm. It is broad spectrum insecticide having contact and stomach action. It is compatible with most of the commonly used pesticides except those of alkaline materials. It is a foliar insecticide with acaricidal properties for use in action. It is synergistic in activity especially in situations where some resistance to organophosphate and or synthetic pyrethroid, insects have developed. It has excellent translaminar effect and readily absorbed in plant cells thus not affected by rainfall.