Georgia’s cotton crop is being threatened by a pesticide-resistant weed that grows two inches a day and is spreading across the state.

It’s a variety of Pigweed called Palmer Amaranth. For years farmers controlled it using the pesticide Roundup. But in 2004 farmers in three Middle Georgia counties noticed the pesticide didn’t kill some plants.

Since then it’s spread to around one-third of Georgia’s 159 counties. The plant can choke out cotton. Right now one of the only ways to control it is to weed by hand. UGA weed scientist Stanley Culpepper says each female plant produces up to 1-million seeds and new control methods are five years away.

“Our growers have accepted the fact that this is a very serious pest and if they don’t take it seriously it can put them out of business.”

Cotton is the state’s number one row crop. It provides more than 20-thousand jobs and contributes more than 2.5 billion dollars a year to the state’s economy.

Tags: Georgia, agriculture, UGA, cotton crop