A plant pathologist and an entomologist at North Carolina State University and collaborators in other states have received a $450,000 grant to develop a training program to help protect U.S. field crops from bioterrorism.
Dr. Gerald Holmes, associate professor of plant pathology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Dr. Ron Stinner, professor of entomology and biomathematics, are lead project directors of an effort to develop a national training program for “first detectors,” or those at the forefront of working with U.S. food crops.
The project received the grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Research Initiative homeland security program. Other project directors are faculty at Kansas State University and the University of Florida.
The first detectors program will involve a number of groups – anyone likely to encounter suspected crop bioterrorism – from county extension agents to private crop consultants to agriculture department employees, Holmes said.
“We want to talk to people in frequent contact with agriculture, including growers,” he said. “Cooperative Extension agents across the country will train growers and others in direct contact with crops.”
Holmes said the Southeast is particularly vulnerable to crop bioterrorism because of its vast agricultural diversity, a favorable environment for pests and diseases to thrive, and ports where exotic pests can enter the ecosystem.
Crop bioterrorism could include a variety of plant diseases or insect infestations that might occur simultaneously. Such an incident would be a blow to the U.S. economy by destroying crops and creating a climate in which other countries would refuse to buy U.S. crops.
“It’s very difficult to distinguish between naturally occurring acts (of disease and pest outbreaks) and crop bioterrorism,” Holmes said. “We are running through scenarios to see how long it takes to become aware of outbreaks that could be crop bioterrorism.”
The training will help first detectors understand their role in detection, what to look for and how the chain of command would work in addressing crop bioterrorism, Holmes said. First detectors will learn:
· basic disease diagnosis;
· secure sample submission;
· digitally assisted diagnosis;
· awareness of the NPDN, its mission and how first detectors fit into the detection picture;
· plant diseases and insects that pose threats to agriculture.
The training will be developed for a national audience, with some regional and possibly state differences. Holmes said he hopes to use distance education to quickly train large numbers of first detectors.
“On-line learning offers a significant advantage to us,” Holmes said. “We hope this program will be a model.”
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