Dec 16, 2016

Research Funding Plants the Seed for Healthier Future By Tim Hodson

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would be allocating nearly $58 million to support 513 projects with partners in 53 states and territories, and the District of Columbia.

The money is not just for the agriculture sector; the horticulture industry will benefit from this allocation too.

“Since this unique Farm Bill program’s inception, AmericanHort and our Horticultural Research Institute foundation have worked diligently to ensure that horticulture industry priorities receive the attention they deserve,” said Craig Regelbrugge, AmericanHort senior vice president for advocacy and research. This “program has become a major tool for pest prevention and mitigation solutions.”

During the new fiscal year, the Horticultural Research Institute will receive $105,600 in funding to advance the Systems Approach for Nursery Certification pilot program, a cooperative effort of the National Plant Board, industry and USDA-APHIS.

Among the horticulture “priority projects” that will receive USDA-APHIS funding are:

• $185,000 in funding for two projects addressing downy mildews;
• $116,000 in industry-relevant pollinator projects;
• Nearly $700,000 for work addressing Phytophthora ramorum and a newer emerging threat, tentaculata. This funding includes program support for the National Ornamentals Research Site at Dominican University of California, a unique facility that enables regulated Phytophthora work to be undertaken in a nursery-like environment;
• $55,000 for developing best management practices to address crown gall of Loropetalum, an emerging disease threat;
• $84,000 to support continued development of the Plant Risk Analysis tool for evaluating a plant’s invasiveness potential. HRI had provided early funding for this project; and
• approximately $700,000 in funding for coordinated projects to address the threat of boxwood blight, Calonectria pseudonaviculata.

An additional $4.6 million will go to 22 centers that are part of the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN). NCPN supports the safe importation, pathogen-testing, and release to the private sector of propagative material.

The USDA-APHIS funding for this ongoing research is critical to the industry’s future. These projects will help ensure growers have the knowledge they need to battle pest and diseases to grow heathy — and profitable — crops for years to come.

— Tim