The USDA is making further efforts in plant pest and disease protection.
The Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs made the $70 million announcement at the NASDA Winter Policy Conference last week. 374 projects across all 50 states and some territories are set to benefit.
The Executive Director of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service provides further insight.
“Plant Protection Act, section 7721, it grants USDA the authority to provide funding to strengthen our nation’s infrastructure for pest surveillance, detection, identification, and threat mitigation. It also safeguards the nursery production system and respond to plant test emergencies. The Act actually was established through the 2008 Farm Bill. It established the plant Pest and Disease management and Disaster prevention program and the National Cleaning Plant Network funding program,” said Samantha Simon.
Trapping, detection dog teams and better surveillance are just a few of the projects that will receive funding.
