The primary purpose of this agreement is to secure the health and economic viability of U.S. Fruit tree, grapevine, and HOP industries by providing an accessible supply of virus-tested plant…

This $1.26 million cooperative agreement from the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to Washington State University will support the university's Center for Plant Health to provide virus-tested plant material for fruit tree, grapevine, and hop industries through August 2024. Under the agreement, the Center will accept, test, and release commercially important cultivars free of economically important viruses for propagation. It will also retain and retest foundation plants and produce propagative units for distribution to propagators in major specialty crop producing states. These activities aim to secure the health and economic viability of U.S. specialty crop industries by limiting the introduction and spread of harmful viruses, giving growers access to new cultivars, and ensuring a reliable source of protected material. The work directly supports the goals of the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care federal grant program to protect U.S. agriculture from economically damaging pathogens and pests.

The primary purpose of this agreement is to secure the health and economic viability of U.S. Fruit tree, grapevine, and HOP industries by providing an accessible supply of virus-tested plant material for propagators in the U.S., for U.S. Growers from a sustainable, industry-relevant foundation, using sound science in a transparent and accountable manner. With ncpn support, the cpcnw provides diagnostic and therapeutic services to produce public and proprietary cultivars from domestic and international sources to G1 standards, free of economically important viruses. These plants are then maintained in the cpcnw's screenhouse facilities to prevent reinfection, as sources of propagative material for nurseries and propagators across the U.S. For FY2023, the cpcnw aims to 1) accept, test, and release commercially important cultivars for all three supported specialty crops, 2) retain and retest foundation plants to maintain stakeholder confidence, and 3) produce and distribute propagative units to propagators in major specialty crop producing states within the U.S. The cpcnw's activities benefit U.S. Propagators and growers by 1) limiting the introduction and spread of harmful virus-like pathogens that reduce plant vigor, yield, and product quality, 2)through being able to import and obtain new, commercial significant cultivars, and 3) by having a protected, reliable source for material when disease epidemics or major plantings occur.