An overview of pesticides registered in China for application on cotton

As the largest cotton producing country in the world, China's total cotton output in 2019 was 5.89 million tons, accounting for 22.5% of the global total, with Xinjiang's total cotton production amounting to 5.02 million tons, accounting for 84.9% of the national total.

However, some of the factors restricting the quality of cotton production are cotton diseases and insect pests, including seedling disease, blight, greensickness, spoiling boil disease, aphid and cotton bollworm, which occur periodically and cause considerable pressure on prevention and control. This article is a brief summary of the present status of pesticide registrations used on cotton.

1. Pesticides registered in China for use on cotton

As per China Pesticide Registration Watch, as of 9th June, 2020, a total of 2,990 pesticide products were registered for use on cotton that will still stay within the valid period, including 2,117 (70.8%) insecticides, 274 (9.2%) herbicides and 198 (6.6%) fungicides. From January 2019 to the present time, there have been 10 new products granted registration for use on cotton, including two insecticides, three herbicides, two fungicides and three plant growth regulators.

Table 1: New Registrations for Application on Cotton from January to 9th June, 2020

Insecticides

Insecticides are the most common pesticides registered for use on cotton. Among them, the one with the largest number of registered active ingredients is phoxim (443), followed by cypermethrin (220) and beta-cypermethrin (192) (refer to Figure 1). In terms of type of formulations, the one with largest number is EC (1,650), followed by WP (129) and SC (85). Their main use is to control cotton bollworm (1,403), aphid (1,260), cabbage caterpillar (416), diamondback moth (209) and red spider (177).

Figure 1: Top 10 insecticide active ingredients registered for use on cotton

Herbicides

A total of 33 herbicidal active ingredients were registered for use on cotton, including pendimethalin (61), trifluralin (44) and quizalofop-p-ethyl (37). Among the registered formulations, the one with the largest number is EC (207), followed by AS (22) and SC (17). With regards to purpose of use, annual weeds are usually the control target of registrations, with a total of 265. 

Figure 2: Top 10 herbicide active ingredients registered for use on cotton

Fungicides

Out of the 274 fungicide registrations for use on cotton, 38 active ingredients are involved. The one with the largest number of registrations is carbendazim, with 77. As for purpose of use, 113 registrations are used for controlling anthracnose, which has the largest number, followed by 91 for controlling seedling diseases, and 80 for controlling rhizoctonia. The most common types of registration of formulations are WP (94) and FS (56). 

Figure 3: Top 10 fungicide active ingredients registered for use on cotton

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