The purpose of the 2025 arizona nursery and retail plants pest survey will be to: * continue an ongoing survey for a wide variety of pests that pose a threat to arizona's nursery production; * conduct…

This Cooperative Agreement award of $150,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care Federal Grant Program (CFDA 10.025) will fund the 2025 Arizona Nursery and Retail Plants Pest Survey. The key objectives are to continue ongoing surveillance for plant pests that threaten Arizona's nursery industry, conduct targeted inspections of high-risk nursery stock and pathways, and implement trapping programs for specific pests such as California red scale, red imported fire ant, old world bollworm, and Japanese beetle. The survey will focus on nurseries with high import volumes of stock from regulated areas, as well as rose fields, to detect and prevent the introduction and spread of these agricultural threats. This one-year project builds upon previous surveillance efforts to protect Arizona's commercial nurseries and their export potential.

Activities

Inspectors will place and service traps following a defined protocol; * suspect samples will be reviewed by the azda PSD entomology staff; * administrative staff will manage data, financial, and supply resources for the project. Deliverables and expected outcomes: deliverables: * traps deployed and serviced per azda PSD protocol requirements. Inspections of high-risk nursery stock commodities in nursery premises on an ongoing, as-needed basis, as stock is received into the state; * inspections of high-risk nursery stock commodities received into quarantine holding areas on an ongoing, as-needed basis, as stock is received into the state; * up to two inspections through the survey year, as seasonally appropriate, of certified nurseries that export or have moderate to high importation volumes of nursery stock from regulated areas of the U.S. * survey for rifa once during the survey year in each high-risk nursery location; * during the growing season, in-field roses identified for export (approximately 800 acres) will receive up to two surveys for rose rosette disease, rose mosaic virus, phytophagous snails, and scales. Expected outcomes / results: early detection and subsequent mitigation of diseases and pests will minimize the threat to the nursery industry, reduce eradication costs and facilitate the continuation of commerce. Intended beneficiary(IES): commercial nursery growers and retail establishments, in protecting arizona landscape plants from diseases and other pests; the unique biodiversity of arizona. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: none