AmericanHort Welcomes USDA Funding for Plant Pest Solutions
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has just released its plan for strategically deploying over $58 million in special Farm Bill funding to protect agriculture and horticulture from plant pests and diseases.
The funds are provided via the 2014 Farm Bill’s Horticulture title, a key legislative priority for AmericanHort, the organization said in a news release.
In total, 434 projects will be funded in 50 states and several U.S. territories. A few highlights especially important to AmericanHort and its research affiliate, the Horticultural Research Institute, include:
* The Horticultural Research Institute will receive $149,500 to support the continued development of the Systems Approach to Nursery Certification project, in partnership with the National Plant Board and USDA. Eight nursery and greenhouse operations across the country are currently piloting this new approach to plant production and certification;
* Continued funding for the National Ornamentals Research Site at Dominican University of California, $509,283, as well as several specific research projects that will deliver needed tools and information to deal with threats such as Phytophthora ramorum and other challenges confronting the nursery sector;
* Numerous projects around the country in support of clean stock and harmonized certification programs for pome and stone fruit, citrus, grapes, berries, and roses; supporting the safe importation of new varieties; and orderly trade in planting stock for these high value crops;
* Several coordinated projects to address ongoing regulatory and production challenges associated with boxwood blight and downy mildew;
* Granular insecticide treatment efficacy work for Japanese Beetle and Imported Fire Ant in Compost-Amended Substrates;
* Best Management Practices for Control of Bacterial Gall, an emerging threat to Loropetalum, $39,600.
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