"Food seems very plentiful in this country so people dont often realize that plant diseases are still a real threat to our agricultural system," states Noel T. Keen, president of APS. He adds that apples are a case in point, falling victim to a common bacterial disease called fire blight that is difficult to control and has become increasingly resistant to current methods to keep it at bay. Untreated, the disease could readily wipe out most of the nations apple harvests. States Keen, "Weve long known that one significant tool for combating diseases like fire blight lies in the identification of the genes that make up these disease-causing agents. But getting funding to do this kind of work has been difficult."
Difficult that is until Congressman Smith looked at the issue. Concerned about the lack of funding for plant disease research, Smith spearheaded the development of H.R. 2508, the Plant Pathogen Genome Act of 2001, which would authorize $30 million in appropriations for a USDA plant pathogens genomics program. Also, Smith gained approval by the House Committee on Agriculture of legislation that establishes reducing the economic impact of plant pathogens on commercially important crop plants as a primary purpose for the USDA agricultural genome initiative. The legislation was included in the House version of the Farm Bill and awaits consideration by the U.S. Senate.
"For years weve been holding up a red flag," states
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Contact: Michelle Bjerkness
mbjerkness@scisoc.org
651-454-7250
American Phytopathological Society
22-Oct-2001