Cultural practices for Cotton insect-pest

• Proper spacing: Close spacing and dense canopy will encourage the faster rate of multiplication of bollworms and other pests of cotton. Hence optimum spacing and density are to be maintained.
• Nutrition management: Proper nutrition management should be followed, apply fertilizer based on soil testing. Avoid high dose of nitrogenous fertilizers to prevent excessive vegetative growth (luxuriant green growth) which otherwise attracts more pests.
• Field sanitation: Summer ploughing destroys the resting stages of insects in the soil should be followed. Removal of alternate weed hosts which harbour cotton pests. Collection and destruction of affected squares, dried flowers and grown up larvae will significantly reduce the pest intensity and buildup.
• Timely harvest and stalk destruction: These are among the most effective method managing pink bollworm. These practices reduce the habitat and food available to the pink bollworm, Helicoverpa and Spodoptera. Efforts should be made to destroy the green bolls, cracked bolls and other plant debris left at the end of the season.