USDA Provides $1.2 Million to Support Projects that Protect Idaho Agriculture and Natural Resources

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $1.2 million to Idaho as part of a nationwide effort to strengthen the country’s infrastructure for pest detection, surveillance, and mitigation, as well as protect the U.S. nursery system. USDA is providing more than $70 million in funding this year to support 350 projects in 48 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The Plant Protection Act Section 7721 gives USDA the authority to provide this funding.“

Idaho has about 11.5 million acres of farmland. In 2021, Idaho potatoes alone contributed more than $1.1 billion to the local economy,” said USDA Under Secretary Jenny Moffitt. “Protecting Idaho’s agriculture is vital to the state and our national agricultural economy. These projects will help Idaho protect its agricultural industry, which also protects our national food security.”These funds will support projects covering a range of plant health and pest mitigation activities, including:

• $836,565 to support potato cyst nematode research in the state;
• $250,000 to support the Nez Perce Tribe’s survey for noxious, invasive weeds and the production and release of biological controls; and
• $124,474 to protect the U.S. potato industry against exotic viroid pathogens impacting the potato trade.

Since 2009, USDA has supported more than 5,170 projects and provided nearly $809 million in PPA 7721 funding. Collectively, these projects allow USDA and its partners to quickly detect and rapidly respond to invasive plant pests and diseases. These projects also enable our country to maintain the infrastructure necessary to ensure disease-free, certified plants are available to U.S. specialty crop producers.

View the fiscal year 2023 Plant Protection Act’s Section 7721 spending plans on the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website: www.aphis.usda.gov/ppa-projects.

Original source can be found here.