Pesticide use in Arizona cotton: 1995 and 1996

Federal and state record keeping of pesticide application are forcing agricultural producers to maintain pesticide application records. In cooperation with the Arizona Agricultural Statistics Service, and Arizona Department of Agriculture, we evaluated 96 894 records of pesticide use by commercial applicators in 1995 and 1996, using primarily the state 1080 Form. Based on pesticide class, insecticides represented 83% and 79% of the total acres treated, while accounting for 65% and 59% of the AI applied for both years. Of the total acres treated with a pesticide, 11 to 13 of the top 15 most commonly used products were insecticides. The top 22 to 27 products make up more than 90% of the accumulated percentage of treated acres, leaving the remaining 10% to make up the next 60 plus products. Of the top three fungicides, sulfur, mancozeb, and dichloropropene accounted for nearly 95% of the total treated acres. Three soil-applied herbicides (prometryn, pendimethalin, and trifluralin) account for between 66% and 75% of the total acres treated and between 66% and 71% of the active ingredient applied. The pesticide use class rankings (high to low) were as follows: insecticide, defoliants, herbicides, others and fungicides.