News - New Boxwood Quarantine for Pennsylvania
seeking some additional clarification on how these requirements will apply. In 2012, AmericanHort (then ANLA) and the National Plant Board collaborated to develop a systems approach based on boxwood blight best management practices and a model compliance agreement for states. Pennsylvania's action embraces this BMPs and compliance agreement approach. Many boxwood producers have already adopted this systems approach, and AmericanHort encourages all boxwood producers to move to adopt these common-sense prevention measures to protect their interests, and safeguard the future of boxwood as a lucrative nursery crop and an iconic landscape plant. This will likely affect all boxwood growers who ship to Pennsylvania, although those growers who participate in our Boxwood Blight Cleanliness Program will have no problems shipping their product into Pennsylvania.
Mary Ann Hansen, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bugwood.org
This will likely affect all boxwood growers who ship to Pennsylvania, although those growers who participate in our Boxwood Blight Cleanliness Program will have no problems shipping their product into Pennsylvania. On page 3, section 4. of the attached document is the language for the external quarantine that affects nurseries in states who ship boxwood into Pennsylvania.
Dana D. Rhodes, State Plant Regulatory Official PA Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA 17110 Phone: 717.772.5205; www.agriculture.state.pa.us Craig Regelbrugge, AmericanHort, Debra Martin, Debra.Martin@vdacs.virginia.gov, Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Richmond, VA 23219, Tel. No. 804-786-3515 Boxwood Blight Information in Virginia is available on the VDACS website at http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/plant-
industry-services-boxwood-blight.shtml
News - A Faster Way to Get Rid of Kudzu
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) notified AmericanHort that after careful consideration, it is implementing an internal and external quarantine for boxwood blight, Calonectria pseudonaviculatum. The action follows a number of boxwood blight detections on nursery stock during 2015. Detections resulted in destruction of positive plants, and PDA maintains that there is no indication that the pathogen is established in the state. Pennsylvania has determined that the threat of Boxwood Blight is great to the Commonwealth. In an effort to protect consumers, residents, and gardens, we have implemented a Quarantine on Boxwood Blight. The quarantine applies to all producers/shippers shipping Buxus (sp.) in Pennsylvania and those from other states shipping to PA. The quarantine requires the implementation of systems approaches to mitigate the disease if a positive is traced back to a supplier/producer. This quarantine will be imposed on in-state and out-of-state producers, shippers, and suppliers. Generally, plant material originating out of state must either be inspected by origin state authorities, or the nursery must be under compliance agreement with the state authority and have implemented a systems approach for prevention of boxwood blight. We are VNLA Newsletter 12
Spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres annually, kudzu completely envelops this Mississippi landscape. Photo by Peggy Greb.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study, the use of combined management programs can control kudzu more quickly than individual methods in use today.
July/August/September 2016 July / August / September 2016
12 VNLA Newsletter