The purpose of the commodity-based survey is to detect the presence of nursery and ornamental pests, to include cotton seed BUG (CSB) oxycarenus hyalinipennis, box tree moth (BTM) cydalima…

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) received a $160,000 cooperative agreement from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) to conduct a commodity-based pest surveillance survey. Awarded July 1, 2025 and concluding June 30, 2026, this agreement supports the detection and monitoring of three priority nursery and ornamental pests: cotton seed bug (Oxycarenus hyalinipennis), box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis), and pink hibiscus mealybug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus). The survey addresses California's critical need to demonstrate pest-free nursery stock and ornamental plants to trading partners, particularly following 2019 cotton seed bug detections in California.

CDFA will deliver comprehensive survey services across seven California counties, including site identification based on risk-based criteria, staff hiring and training, field identification of suspect samples, and professional diagnostic examination through the Plant Pest Diagnostic Center. The project encompasses trapping at 50 sites for pink hibiscus mealybug and 30 sites for box tree moth, with visual cotton seed bug surveys at the same 50 locations. Nurseries will receive two visits during the July through October survey season, utilizing Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) approved methods. Deliverables include tabulated survey results documenting the number of sites trapped, sampled, and submitted for analysis to determine survey effectiveness and support early detection of target pest infestations.

Activities

Identify survey sites developed from risk-based criteria across seven counties. Some of the time will be spent hiring and providing training for survey activities, preliminary field identification of suspect samples, followed by proper submission to the plant pest diagnostic center (PPDC) for examination and identification. Surveys will occur july through october. Traps will be placed at 50 sites for PHM and 30 sites for BTM. CSB will be visually surveyed at the same 50 locations as PHM. Nurseries will be visited twice in the season. Trapping and survey guidelines will be based on the caps approved methods. Deliverables and expected outcomes: a tabulation of the number of sites trapped and sampled and the number of samples submitted can be used to determine if the survey efforts were sufficient to meet the project needs. The survey methods described in this document target high risk production nurseries. The program will be considered successful if the targeted pests are not detected in california nurseries, or infestations are found early enough to allow an appropriate mitigative response. Negative survey results would support that BTM has not been introduced nor established and that CSB and PHM are not present in commercial nurseries in CA.intended beneficiary(IES): nursery stock imported into california is shown to be a pathway for the introduction of exotic plant pests. The CA nursery industry is a $3.95 billion industry that was ranked 4TH in value for agricultural commodities in the state in 2023. The CA nursery stock export market also comprises 28% of the total US nursery stock export market and is valued at $145 million. IT is critical that CA is able to demonstrate to its trading partners that CA nursery stock and ornamentals are free from key pests. With the recent detections of CSB in CA, maintaining trade with state and international trading partners is especially important. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: staff from the county agricultural commissioners' offices will assist in this survey (attachment B).