The primary purpose of this agreement is to provide research support, management, and oversight for projects of interest to USDA aphis PPQ s & t miami and UF-trec

This $170,655 cooperative agreement awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will support the development of methyl bromide alternative treatments and techniques to protect citrus fruit from chilling injury. Under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care federal grant program, the University of Florida Division of Sponsored Research will conduct research studies, analyze data, and produce reports on the efficacy and limitations of ethyl formate and ethanedinitrile as alternatives for methyl bromide fumigation of snails and mites. Additionally, the awardee will evaluate if 1-methylcyclopropene can reduce chilling injury from in-transit cold treatments on citrus targeting fruit flies. The resulting treatments and data provided to the funding agency have the potential to enable new phytosanitary practices that protect U.S. agriculture from economically damaging pests in a safe and effective manner. The award period is from March 2022 through December 2023.

Specifically, this agreement will support the development of methyl bromide alternative treatmentstargeting snails on non-food commodities and brevipalpus chilensis miteson chilean grapes. MB use is being discouraged due to its harmfuleffects on the ozone layer. The fumigants ethanedinitrile (EDN) andethyl formate (EF) have shown promise as alternatives for some MB usage. This agreement will also support the development of a technique forprotecting citrus fruit from chilling injury resulting from extendedin-transit cold treatments. Previous work by DR. Anastasia njoroge(university of florida) shows that 1-MCP can protect tropical fruitssuch as guava, which are particularly susceptible to chilling injury.1-MCP is used commercially to delay ripening and protect fruit quality. We will evaluate if 1-MCP reduces chilling injuryon in-transit coldtreatments on citrus targeting zeugodacus TAU. The cooperator will provide research support, conducting the requisitestudies, analyzing the data and producing reports for aphis PPQ on theefficacy and limitations of the proposed treatments. Specific activitiesinclude rearing of snails, mites and other organisms for study and theconducting of dose-response bioassays following best practices fortreatment research developed by aphis. The deliverables from this awardinclude reports on the treatments being developed that can be used byaphis PPQ to enact new phytosanitary treatments that are safe andeffective. The resulting treatments will benefit american agriculturalproducers by preventing the introduction of exotic pests that may causesignificant economic losses to numerous crops. The replacement of methylbromide will have global benefits as methyl bromide is a significantenvironmental pollutant which contributes to the degradation of theozone layer. The award will not result in subawards.