Cooperative Agreement W912HZ2420038

This $117,047 cooperative agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) will support host-specificity testing of the biological control agent Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris. This parasitic wasp is being evaluated as a potential long-term control option for the South American tomato pinworm, an invasive pest that poses a significant threat to...

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service awarded $352,236 under the Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research program (CFDA 10.001) to Fundacion Para El Estudio De Especies Invasivas for a Cooperative Agreement running from July 1, 2021 to August 14, 2022. The award aims to develop a biological control program against the Harrisia cactus mealybug, an invasive pest affecting 13 native cactus species in Puerto Rico, including three endemic and two endangered species. Key...

This $225,000 federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.310 - Agriculture and Food Research Initiative) will support research at the University of Arizona to investigate the molecular basis of plant-insect interactions and improve the effectiveness of biocontrol agents for managing the invasive fern Lygodium microphyllum. The research team will sequence and compare the genomes of resistant and susceptible varieties...

This $150,000 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) supports the mass production, distribution, and evaluation of the Lilioceris egena beetle as a new biological control agent for the invasive air potato weed. The primary objectives are to increase laboratory rearing capacity, conduct strategic field releases, monitor...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service totals $269,809 to support mass production, shipment, release and assessment of biological control releases against the Asian Citrus Psyllid. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will produce beneficial insect Tamarixia radiata to help control the economically damaging psyllid pest under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care federal grant program...

This $258,666 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the CFDA 10.025 Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program supports the mass production, distribution, and evaluation of the biological control agent Lilioceris egena for control of air potato, an invasive weed. The key activities under this agreement include: 1) increasing laboratory rearing capacity for L. egena, 2) conducting field...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under CFDA 10.025 - Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program aims to develop a biological control strategy to combat the potential establishment of the invasive Old World Cotton Bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) in North America. The $201,208 award supports research by Lepidext, Inc. to assess the efficacy of a sterilizing nudivirus (HZNV2 isolate...

This $612,852 Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program will fund research on the invasive Mexican rice borer insect in Louisiana and Florida. The Louisiana State University Agricultural Center will characterize genetic structures of rice borer populations, determine fine-scale genetic structures at expansion edges, compare cold tolerance among populations, and predict future range...

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service awarded a $214,500 cooperative agreement to CAB International to develop environmentally safe and effective biological control agents for several invasive weed species in the United States. The award, made under the Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research program (CFDA 10.001), will support CAB International's work from June 2021 through July 2022 to biologically control invasive species through the development of targeted...

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $180,000 Project Grant to Regents Of The University Of Minnesota under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The University will conduct research on Wolbachia bacteria and its potential to manage arthropod pests as biological control agents. Using functional genomics, proteomics, and synthetic biology methods, the University will characterize Wolbachia proteins that may alter insect...