Cotton root rot is a century-old cotton disease that now can be effectively controlled with Topguard Terra fungicide. Because this disease tends to occur in the same general areas within fields in recurring years, site-specific application of the fungicide only to infested areas can be as effective as and considerably more economical than uniform application. The overall objective of this research was to demonstrate how site-specific fungicide application could be implemented based on historical remote sensing imagery and using variable-rate technology. Procedures were developed for creating binary prescription maps from historical airborne and high-resolution satellite imagery. Two different variable-rate liquid control systems were adapted to two existing cotton planters, respectively, for site-specific fungicide application at planting. One system was used for site-specific application on multiple fields in 2015 and 2016 near Edroy, Texas, and the other system was used on multiple fields in both years near San Angelo, Texas. Airborne multispectral imagery taken during the two growing seasons was used to monitor the performance of the site-specific treatments. Results based on prescription maps derived from historical airborne and satellite imagery of two fields in 2015 and one field in 2016 are reported in this article. Two years of field experiments showed that the prescription maps and the variable-rate systems performed well and that site-specific fungicide treatments effectively controlled cotton root rot. Reduction in fungicide use was 41%, 43%, and 63% for the three fields, respectively. The methodologies and results of this research will provide cotton growers, crop consultants, and agricultural dealers with practical guidelines for implementing site-specific fungicide application using historical imagery and variable-rate technology for effective management of cotton root rot.

Resources in this dataset:

• Resource Title: A ground picture of cotton root rot
  File Name: IMG_0124.JPG
  Resource Description: A cotton root rot-infested area in a cotton field near Edroy, TX.

• Resource Title: An aerial image of a cotton field
  File Name: Color-infrared image of a field.jpg
  Resource Description: Aerial color-infrared (CIR) image of a cotton field infested with cotton root rot.

• Resource Title: As-applied fungicide application data
  File Name: Jim Ermis-Farm 1-Field 11 Fungicide Application.csv
  Resource Description: As-applied fungicide application rates for variable rate application of Topguard to a cotton field infested with cotton rot