WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.632 --> 00:00:03.215 (upbeat music) 2 00:00:10.061 --> 00:00:12.496 We all know how important agriculture is to Mississippi 3 00:00:12.496 --> 00:00:14.552 line:15% and the surrounding region and when you think 4 00:00:14.552 --> 00:00:16.609 line:15% about agriculture in this region the image that comes 5 00:00:16.609 --> 00:00:19.292 to mind, might be one of a field, white 6 00:00:19.292 --> 00:00:21.543 with cotton, as far as the eye can see. 7 00:00:21.543 --> 00:00:23.527 Almost, kind of like, Christmas in July. 8 00:00:23.527 --> 00:00:25.660 Now, most of us also probably know 9 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:28.103 that the socks we take off before we get into bed 10 00:00:28.103 --> 00:00:30.960 and the sheets we crawl into, those are made of cotton. 11 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.522 But did you know that cottonseed is an important part 12 00:00:34.522 --> 00:00:38.375 of animal feed and thus our food supply or that cottonseed 13 00:00:38.375 --> 00:00:41.791 oil is an important component in the manufacturing process 14 00:00:41.791 --> 00:00:45.087 of a plethora of products, ranging from soaps, oils, 15 00:00:45.087 --> 00:00:47.325 cosmetics and even pharmaceuticals? 16 00:00:47.325 --> 00:00:50.740 So, clearly cotton has an important role 17 00:00:50.740 --> 00:00:53.417 in the global economy and that role is only going 18 00:00:53.417 --> 00:00:55.997 to increase as global population surges 19 00:00:55.997 --> 00:00:59.124 to nearly 10 billion people by 2050. 20 00:00:59.124 --> 00:01:00.841 That's many more stomachs that need to be fed, 21 00:01:00.841 --> 00:01:02.536 many more feet that need socks 22 00:01:02.536 --> 00:01:04.642 and many more beds that need sheets. 23 00:01:04.642 --> 00:01:08.922 Unfortunately, the development of nearly 250 herbicide 24 00:01:08.922 --> 00:01:11.896 resistant weed species challenges our ability 25 00:01:11.896 --> 00:01:13.882 to produce for this growing world. 26 00:01:13.882 --> 00:01:16.789 And it comes at a time where we're losing one 27 00:01:16.789 --> 00:01:20.202 of agriculture's most oldest and trusted tools, 28 00:01:20.202 --> 00:01:22.922 the use of chemical herbicides for weed control. 29 00:01:22.922 --> 00:01:25.892 And so in response the bio-tech community has released 30 00:01:25.892 --> 00:01:28.483 new weed control technologies based on the use 31 00:01:28.483 --> 00:01:32.216 of synthetic plant hormones, that's right, plant hormones 32 00:01:32.216 --> 00:01:35.752 can actually be used as an effective means of weed control. 33 00:01:35.752 --> 00:01:38.280 However, much like when we were young, 34 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:42.150 those hormones are potent and they do just as good of a job 35 00:01:42.150 --> 00:01:45.112 at killing and injuring off-target cotton 36 00:01:45.112 --> 00:01:48.696 as they do their intended audience or weed species. 37 00:01:48.696 --> 00:01:51.368 Further complicating the issue is the fact that cotton 38 00:01:51.368 --> 00:01:54.184 responds differently to low concentrations of these 39 00:01:54.184 --> 00:01:57.576 synthetic hormones depending on the growth stage at exposure 40 00:01:57.576 --> 00:02:00.462 and these exposure events can happen all throughout the 41 00:02:00.462 --> 00:02:03.974 growth season and so the objective of my work is 42 00:02:03.974 --> 00:02:06.341 to determine the cotton growth stage most susceptible 43 00:02:06.341 --> 00:02:09.222 to injury and yield effects from low concentrations 44 00:02:09.222 --> 00:02:11.366 of these synthetic plant hormones. 45 00:02:11.366 --> 00:02:13.317 And what we find is interesting, 46 00:02:13.317 --> 00:02:16.182 it appears that younger cotton in general is more 47 00:02:16.182 --> 00:02:19.094 susceptible to injury and compensatory yield effects 48 00:02:19.094 --> 00:02:22.350 from low concentrations of these plant hormones, 49 00:02:22.350 --> 00:02:25.974 among other research details and so what this allows us 50 00:02:25.974 --> 00:02:29.701 to do is better advise crop producers in their adoption 51 00:02:29.701 --> 00:02:33.149 of these new technologies, as they try 52 00:02:33.149 --> 00:02:36.694 to produce happy healthy cotton and avoid the 53 00:02:36.694 --> 00:02:39.556 nightmare of crazy hormonal cotton. 54 00:02:39.556 --> 00:02:41.926 What this means for the end-producer is that we can keep 55 00:02:41.926 --> 00:02:44.918 our food supply, food and fiber supply high 56 00:02:44.918 --> 00:02:48.418 and we can keep prices for cotton-based products low 57 00:02:48.418 --> 00:02:50.662 as we move forward in our mission to protect 58 00:02:50.662 --> 00:02:52.470 our global food and fiber supply 59 00:02:52.470 --> 00:02:55.110 and feed and clothe a growing world starting right here 60 00:02:55.110 --> 00:02:56.774 at Mississippi State. 61 00:02:56.774 --> 00:02:57.607 Thank you.