The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is inviting stakeholders to submit project suggestions for fiscal year (FY) 2021 Plant Protection Act Section 7721 (PPA 7721) and National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) funding. In total, APHIS will be making approximately $75 million available in plant protection funding with at least $5 million going to the NCPN.
PPA 7721’s Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program is organized into six strategic goal areas under which projects are evaluated and funded. The FY 21 Implementation Plan provides goal area guidance, with specific objectives to assist those who wish to submit a suggestion regarding the following strategic goal areas:
- Enhancing plant pest/disease analysis and survey
- Targeting domestic inspection activities at vulnerable points in the safeguarding continuum
- Enhancing and strengthening pest identification and technology
- Safeguarding nursery production
- Conducting targeted outreach and education
- Enhancing mitigation and rapid response capabilities
The open period for submitting suggestions for Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program funding will last more than 5 weeks, from July 16 through August 21, 2020. Visit the APHIS website to get resources and guidance for potential cooperators, including the FY 21 Implementation Plan, templates, help session webinar schedule, frequently asked questions and more.
The NCPN program will open for suggestions on the same date as the PPA 7721 funding period. NCPN provides high quality propagative plant material free of plant pathogens to help U.S. specialty crop growers compete in the global market. NCPN program priorities include:
- Promoting the introduction, diagnosis, treatment, establishment and release of clean plant materials for commercial development
- Conducting methods development to test and advance therapies designed to ensure plant material is healthy and clean
- Developing partnerships with university extension offices, state departments of agriculture, and other entities to interact with commercial nurseries, industry associations and producers
- Developing and implementing best practices and quality control protocols or growing high quality propagative plant material.
The open period to apply for NCPN program funding will last for 12 weeks from July 16, 2020, through October 9, 2020. USDA encourages stakeholders interested in learning more about the NCPN program to visit their website.
Funding is available for land-grant universities, non-land-grant colleges of agriculture, State agricultural experiment stations, and State and Federal agencies. Proposals focused on specialty crops have funding priority.
The NCPN works to establish a network of clean plant centers for diagnostic and pathogen elimination services to produce clean propagative plant material and maintain blocks of pathogen-tested plant material in sites throughout the United States.
For more information:
USDA APHIS
www.aphis.usda.gov