Cotton.

It’s in T-shirts.

It’s in towels.

It’s even in your dollar bills.

“[Cotton is] one of the biggest agricultural crops [in North Carolina] next to tobacco and peanuts,” Zeno Wright, a junior in agronomy involved in cotton farming, said.

In 2005, a string of herbicide-resistant weed known as Palmer amaranth was discovered in fields in North Carolina. This weed poses a threat to cotton crops, and a team of three faculty and three graduate students decided something had to be done.

The research done on this weed has not just helped farmers, however. It has brought N.C. State recognition from across the U.S.

According to Alan York, professor in crop science, this is because “roundup-ready” crops are being planted across the country, and anytime there is resistance it brings a lot of attention.

According to York, “roundup-ready” means a crop has been transformed to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate.

Wright said this research will probably bring the University “mad grant money,” and York said he has been on local as well as national television because of the research.

“We are now growing 99 percent of our cotton, well over 80 percent of our soybeans and 50 percent of corn ’roundup-ready,'” York said.

The herbicide glyphosate is used for many reasons. York said it controls many different types of weeds, it does not leave residue in the soil and it will not affect the next crop.

York said crops were engineered to be resistant to the herbicide so they could grow properly. The problem with the weed discovered in 2005, he said, is that it is also resistant to the herbicide.

According to York, herbicide glyphosate is “safer than table salt” and “very environmentally friendly.” While there are critics of herbicide, York emphasized the difficulty in growing millions of acres of crops organically.

“We’re going to use some herbicide to grow crops. Period,” York said. According to York, instances of herbicide-resistant plants are usually very low in the native population. However, cases with some weeds such as Palmer amaranth do occur.

“If you continue to use the herbicide, the [weed] that is not killed reproduces,” York said.

According to Wright, there will be more herbicide-resistant weeds in the future.

“This is the just first weed,” Wright said. “You’re looking at about 10 years of using ’roundup-ready’ every single year.”

According to York, the first case of resistance to the herbicide glyphosate was in Georgia in 2004. The plant spread quickly and by the next year had reached North Carolina.

“We had some folks calling in saying ‘I can’t kill this stuff, glyphosate is not killing it,'” he said.

Researchers were concerned, according to York, but before making an official decision that the plant had genetically adapted, factors such as weather and improper application of the herbicide had to be ruled out.

To do this, they went out to various farms in North Carolina and used the herbicide to do field testing on the weed. After doing additional testing in labs, researchers determined the plant was indeed resistant to the herbicide.

York said researchers then needed to establish the spread and location of the weed. To do this, the team of researchers went across the state taking samples and screening them for resistance. They were then able to begin mapping out the location of the weed.

“One of the things that makes this weed very problematic is it is a very competitive weed,” York said.

He said this means the weed competes with the crop for light, water and nutrients. Whatever the weed takes leaves less for the crop.

Also, according to York, the weed can grow as large as 6.5 feet tall.

“What it does is shade out the cotton, its not actually going to kill the cotton, its going to reduce the yield,” said Wright.

Another problem with Palmer amaranth, according to York, is that it is “highly efficient” and can produce “a quarter to a half million seeds per plant per year.”

“If you don’t get good control, you get a much worse problem the next year,” York said. “Once it gets started in a field, it becomes the predominant weed.”

York also said because of the weed’s fast growth and height, if it is not controlled, it can keep cotton from being mechanically picked.

As for the future of this research, York said the researchers will be looking into the biology and physiology of the weed.

Another researcher at the University is working on the genetics of the plant to see if the gene for resistance is dominant or recessive.

To combat the weed, the researchers are performing educational extensions with farmers to teach them how to control it. They are also coming up with strategies on how to deal with it, according to York.

“What you have to do is switch your management practices,” said Wright.

He said this may mean reverting to an older type of herbicide to control the weed.

York said the short term goals of determining the location of the plant and figuring out effective ways to manage it should be done in a few years.