Officials have quickly reprioritized $250,000 in federal horticulture research funds to immediately begin developing and implementing effective strategies to prevent the spread of Phytophthora austrocedri and minimize its impact on the horticultural industry.
P. austrocedri is a destructive pathogen threatening valuable ornamental crops including cypress, arborvitae, juniper, and cedar, which could have serious consequences for nurseries, landscapes, and natural ecosystems.
“HRI’s ability to prioritize this research and our collaboration with industry experts and plant pathologists underscore our commitment to providing the industry with practical solutions safeguarding plants, landscapes, and green industry businesses from emerging threats,” according to a statement from the Horticultural Research Institute. HRI is the research arm of national nursery and floriculture trade group AmericanHort, which is based in Columbus, Ohio and Washington, D.C.
The funds are provided through USDA Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative (FNRI). They will be used to study and manage this emerging threat to the horticulture industry, which was only very recently discovered at two Oregon nurseries.
Researchers at USDA and Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon) will spearhead the work, including Dr. Tim Rinehart, Dr. Jerry Weiland, and Dr. Nik Grunwald from USDA, and Dr. Alan Peper and Dr. Mana Ohkura with OSU.
