A Cornell University research facility devoted to controlling a potato pest will receive $1.2 million in state funding to assist with upgrades, officials announced Friday.
Funding to upgrade Cornell’s quarantine facility for the golden nematode—the only such facility in the nation—will help to protect potato growers’ crops, state Sen. Tom O’Mara said in a statement.
O’Mara, in partnership with other state senators, secured the funding to assist with the first phase of renovations.
The golden nematode is currently quarantined to eight New York counties. The pest can lead to total crop failure if uncontrolled, and its spread could lead to domestic and international trade embargos, according to a news release from Cornell. Golden nematodes are also a threat to tomatoes, eggplants and other plants related to the potato.
A collaboration between Cornell, the USDA and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has kept the threat at bay for 70 years through quarantine, regulations, developing resistant potato varieties and creating management plans.
Cornell breeders have developed 22 nematode-resistant potato varieties, O’Mara said. In addition to space for potato breeding research, the laboratory houses a quarantine facility and a research program that works to understand the nematode’s biology and develop control strategies.
“Cornell University’s efforts over the past 70 years to contain the organism, and to conduct the research and development that will always be the front line of protection for our growers and growers throughout America, has been remarkable,” O’Mara said. “This upgraded facility will ensure Cornell’s enormously important work on behalf of one of New York’s key agricultural industries will be carried on effectively and successfully.”
Source: Ithaca Journal