Hollow-fibre, microencapsulated and twist-tie formulations of the pheromone of the pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) were used in trials conducted in Pakistan from 1985–1988. Early season control of this pest by mating disruption, permitted an average reduction of two applications, of conventional insecticides otherwise required to control the cotton pest complex, particularly at the time of flower and fruit setting when beneficial insects are most numerous. The pheromone formulations, together with a mixture of selective and broad-spectrum insecticides in plots of 5 or 10 ha of cotton were compared with plots of cotton, of similar size in the same locality treated with a conventional insecticide spray programme and in plots where no insecticide applications were made for the control of bollworms. Comparisons of numbers of infested bolls and estimated yields showed that levels of control achieved using the pheromone/insecticide combinations were equal in effect to conventional programmes of insecticide sprays, whereas in plots where no bollworm control measures were taken, significantly higher bollworm infestations and reduced yield estimates were recorded.