USDA Provides $1.4 Million to Support Projects that Protect Idaho Food Supply and Natural Resources

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WASHINGTON, February 6, 2024 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $1.4 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. Through the authority of the Plant Protection Act Section 7721, USDA is providing more than $70 million in funding this year. These funds will support 374 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico.

“Idaho has about 11.5 million acres of farmland. In 2022, Idaho potatoes alone contributed more than $1.5 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 harvests, which will also safeguard our national food security.”

These funds will support projects covering a range of plant health and pest mitigation activities, including:

  • $641,426 toward developing pale cyst nematode immunity;
  • $329,889 to support the Nez Perce Tribe’s survey for noxious, invasive weeds and production and release of biological controls;
  • $310,739 to support potato cyst nematode research in the state;
  • $137,036 to protect the U.S. potato industry against exotic pathogens threatening the potato trade; and
  • $10,353 to develop and distribute an identification manual for exotic dacine fly plant pests.

Since 2009, USDA has supported more than 5,520 projects and provided nearly $870 million in PPA 7721 funding. These projects help USDA, and its partners quickly detect and respond to invasive plant pests and diseases. They also help our country maintain the essential infrastructure in place that enables U.S. specialty crop producers to have access to healthy, certified disease-free plants.

View the fiscal year 2024 Plant Protection Act’s Section 7721 spending plans online: www.aphis.usda.gov/ppa-projects.

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APHIS protects the health of U.S. agriculture and natural resources against invasive pests and diseases, regulates genetically engineered crops, administers the Animal Welfare Act, and helps people and wildlife coexist. We also certify the health of U.S. agricultural exports and resolve phytosanitary and sanitary issues to open, expand, and maintain markets for U.S plant and animal products.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.