Cooperative Agreement AP23PPQST00C162

This Cooperative Agreement award, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care (CFDA 10.025) program, supports the development of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) to control the navel orangeworm (NOW) in tree nut orchards. The $564,798 award to the State of Arizona, doing business as the AZ Cotton Council, will fund activities such as supporting APHIS PPQ S&T IMMDL Phoenix, the Phoenix rearing facility, and other cooperators in methods development for NOW mass-rearing, release methods, and other relevant areas for SIT application. The intended outcomes include associated experimental data, NOW rearing standard operating procedures, fabricated rearing devices/technology, and required project reports to benefit government, academic/extension, and tree nut industry stakeholders.