A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of Insecticide Termination Decision Rules

Cotton production research regarding physiological cutout and last economically sound application of insecticides are synthesized in this study. Meta-analysis methods are employed to provide insights to improve production systems by avoiding inputs that do not provide benefits in excess of the respective costs. Meta-analysis can be thought of as a quantitative literature review or more specifically as a statistical approach to reviewing and summarizing quantitative empirical results of previous studies. This study evaluates the physiological indicators of interest including nodes above white flower and heat unit accumulation to determine if underlying, undiscovered findings can be isolated.  Numerous primary studies were evaluated for treatment effect sizes and estimates of precision conducive to meta-analytic procedures; and studies meeting the pre-determined criteria were included in the meta-database.  Preliminary tests on the meta-database for statistical problems such as publication bias and dependence indicated that publication bias was present in the data. Publication bias occurs when ‘insignificant’ results are not published. Based on meta-regression results, agronomic and economic optima are evaluated.