Released Feb. 5, 2008

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- A passion for offering valuable, timely educational programs and providing solutions to cotton producers across Texas has earned Texas AgriLife Extension Service Specialist Robert Lemon a national award.

Lemon, AgriLife Extension cotton specialist, was recently recognized by his peers from across the Cotton Belt as the 2007 Extension Cotton Specialist of the Year at the recent Beltwide Cotton Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

Sponsored by Bayer CropScience, the award and banquet have been featured events at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences since 1984. Extension cotton specialists representing every cotton-producing state select one of their peers annually based on leadership and industry service.

“Dr. Lemon is highly deserving of this award,” said Dr. Travis Miller, associate head and AgriLife Extension program leader for soil and crop sciences. “Cotton farming is heavily impacted by new developments in science and technology.”

Miller said Lemon has a unique skill in condensing the huge volume of new science evolving in the cotton production technology and putting it in a form “that’s adapted to our production conditions and useful to enhance yield, fiber quality, environmental quality and profitability for Texas cotton farmers.”

One noted initiative led by Lemon is the successful chemical cotton stalk destruction program, Miller said. Timely cotton stalk destruction is important in managing boll weevils, historically the most damaging insect pest to cotton.

The chemical cotton stalk destruction program and the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication program both have had a significant impact in controlling pests, Miller said.

In regions engaged in the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Program (approximately 1 million acres), the production practice reduces post-harvest spraying operations, decreases pesticide use, reduces feeding sites for overwintering weevils and conserves program and producer funds.

Lemon also played a key role in the development and distribution of the 2005 Cotton Resource CD for Texas, which was updated to DVD format in 2007. These resources have consolidated hundreds of fact sheets and production guides for Texas cotton producers.

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http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=336

Contact: Blair Fannin, (979) 845-2259, b-fannin@tamu.edu