The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating almost $1.57 million to Idaho as part of its effort to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure for pest detection and surveillance, identification, and threat mitigation, and to safeguard the U.S. nursery production system. Overall, USDA is providing more than $70 million in funding this year to support 383 projects in 49 states, The District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. USDA provides this funding under the authority of the Plant Protection Act Section 7721.
“Idaho has nearly 25,000 farms and ranches, which produce 185 different commodities. Protecting Idaho’s agricultural industry is critical,” said USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach. “These projects will help Idaho protect its resources and contribute to USDA’s mission of keeping our nation’s agriculture economy strong.”
These funds will support projects covering a range of plant health and pest mitigation activities, including:
- $860,632 to support potato cyst nematode research in the State;
- $250,000 to support biological control efforts of noxious and invasive weeds;
- $203,987 to support genetic diversity research of the potato cyst nematode;
- $152,610 to support research regarding the emergent and invasive pest species in the Western United States; and
- $105,159 to protect the U.S. potato industry against exotic viroid pathogens impacting the potato trade.
Since 2009, USDA has supported nearly 4,400 projects and provided more than $670 million in funding. Collectively, these projects allow USDA and its partners to quickly detect and rapidly respond to invasive plant pests and diseases. These projects also help our country maintain the infrastructure necessary to ensure disease-free, certified planting materials are available to U.S. specialty crop producers.
As the United States and the world recognize the International Year of Plant Health through June 2021, this funding highlights USDA’s continued commitment to safeguarding our agricultural resources for current and future generations.
View the fiscal year 2021 Plant Protection Act Section 7721 spending plans on the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website:
www.aphis.usda.gov/ppa-projects.