The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $3.3 million to Washington State 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 372 projects in 49 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. USDA provides this funding under the authority of the Plant Protection Act Section 7721.
“Washington has more than 35,000 farms, which produce more than 300 different agricultural products. Agriculture and food processing provide more than 164,000 jobs in the state. Ninety-six percent of Washington’s farms are family owned. Protecting Washington’s agricultural industry is critical,” said USDA Under Secretary Jenny Moffitt. “These projects will help Washington protect its resources and contribute to keeping our nation’s agricultural economy strong.”
These funds will support projects covering a range of plant health and pest mitigation activities, including, but not limited to:
- $1,146,177 to support National Clean Plant Network foundation plant stocks for multiple crops;
- $560,252 to support the Asian giant hornet response, including outreach and education;
- $250,000 to survey for Asian defoliator moths;
- $150,000 to survey for stone fruit pests;
- $125,000 to support the Exotic Pest Survey Identification Center;
- $123,000 to support the Asian defoliator moth post-treatment response;
- $120,000 to survey for grape pests; and
- $91,229 to develop molecular identification resources for Cernuella virgata, a high priority pest.
View the fiscal year 2022 Plant Protection Act’s Section 7721 spending plans on the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website: www.aphis.usda.gov/ppa-projects.
