The boll weevil eradication program in the United States began in 1983 to rid the Cotton Belt of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis Boheman.

To date, the boll weevil has been eradicated from nearly 12.9 million acres of cotton in: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Kansas, California, Arizona, and portions of Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico; as well as from the neighboring regions of the Mexicali Valley, Sonoita, and Caborca in Mexico.

The program is currently operating in the remaining 3.5 million acres of cotton in Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. As of this writing, 100 percent of the U.S. Cotton Belt is involved in boll weevil eradication, with nearly 80 percent having completed eradication and the remaining 20 percent nearing eradication. Nationwide eradication in the U.S. is expected by 2009.

The remarkable environmental, biological, and economic benefits realized within the eradicated regions make boll weevil eradication one of the most important agricultural programs in U.S. history.