Management of the Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Colombian Caribbean: A Conceptual Model

Abstract

The boll weevil [BW; Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)] is the main pest in the cotton-producing regions throughout the Americas from Southern Texas to Argentina. In the Colombian Caribbean, frequent population outbreaks have resulted in cotton planting bans in some localities and in massive applications of insecticides elsewhere (up to 15 insecticide sprays per cotton season). To date, information on boll weevil management strategies in Colombia is only available in the forms of gray literature (technical reports) and informal knowledge held by crop advisors and farmers. This study compiles this information using a standardized protocol for participatory construction of conceptual models for agricultural systems. The conceptual model developed in this study integrates the informal local knowledge of crop advisors and farmers with disciplinary knowledge describing management strategies for boll weevil. The collected data were assessed and organized using a systems approach to facilitate the future development of quantitative models and allow visualization of knowledge gaps. The model includes the description of the biological and technical-decisional subsystems. The latter subsystem explains boll weevil management at two temporal-spatial scales: 1) farm (field) scale management during the cotton season and 2) a regional boll weevil suppression strategy mainly aimed at controlling the insect populations that survived the intercotton season. The development of this conceptual model allowed describing the current management strategies for boll weevil and formulating hypotheses about the effectiveness of these strategies. This conceptual model provides guidelines for future research, and it can serve as a baseline for the development of quantitative models and simulations describing the decision-making process related to the management of boll weevil in the Colombian Caribbean.

A Review of Successes and Impeding Challenges of IoT-Based Insect Pest Detection Systems for Estimating Agroecosystem Health and Productivity of Cotton

“…Similarly, cotton mealybugs have been reported in more than 26 countries in various ecological zones [72]. Boll weevils have been reported throughout southern Texas to Argentina [73]. Several studies have indicated a tremendous increase in serious destructive pests within the cotton ecosystem.…”

La búsqueda activa de soluciones para los problemas de los sistemas agrícolas: una visión desde análisis de decisiones

“…Estos horizontes son escalas espacio-temporales que definen el escenario donde las acciones y los efectos de las acciones de una decisión tomarán lugar (la representación dimensional del sistema o problema de decisión). Las de políticas públicas y regulaciones son las de mayor efecto temporal y espacial, seguidas por las estratégicas, tácticas y operacionales (Burbano-Figueroa et al, 2021;Conway, 1984;Lum, 2015;Rabbinge et al, 1993;Webb, 2019). Las decisiones estratégicas presentan una escala temporal de años, las tácticas afectan semanas y las operacionales corresponden a días.…”