Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating almost $2 million to Massachusetts 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.“Massachusetts produces more than $475 million in agricultural goods annually. The agricultural industry in the state employs more than 25,000 residents. Protecting Massachusetts’ agricultural industry is critical," said USDA Under Secretary Jenny Moffitt. “These projects will help Massachusetts 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:Since 2009, USDA has supported more than 4,800 projects and provided nearly $740 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 help our country maintain the infrastructure necessary to make sure disease-free, certified planting materials are available to U.S. specialty crop producers. 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
