U.S. Agencies Rush to Wipe Out Idaho Potato Pest - Bible Prophecy News

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*Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases*

Apr 20, 9:26 PM EDT

*U**.S. Agencies Rush to Wipe Out Idaho Potato Pest*

By TODD DVORAK
Associated Press Writer


BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Federal aid is on the way to help Idaho potato 
growers battle a microscopic worm that was discovered in fields last 
year and blamed for the closure of four export markets for fresh potatoes.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Thursday approved $10.7 
million in emergency funding to help growers eradicate the potato cyst 
nematode. The pest is not considered harmful to humans, but can shrink 
yields by as much as 80 percent.

"This is huge for the Idaho potato industry and specifically for our 
growers," said Frank Muir, president of the Idaho Potato Commission. 
"This is exactly what we needed."

The worm was initially discovered during routine testing last April in a 
field in southeastern Idaho. Additional testing led to a quarantine on 
six nearby fields, an area spanning about 10,000 acres.

After the initial discovery, all fresh U.S. potato imports were banned 
by Japan, followed by South Korea, Canada and Mexico. The discovery and 
market bans caused alarm among growers and industry leaders in Idaho, 
the nation's leading potato producer.

Idaho farmers produce about one-third of all the potatoes in the United 
States, and in 2005, the most recent figures available, Idaho fields 
yielded 12.5 billion pounds valued at $700 million to farmers.

The federal money will be used to inject a pesticide in the soil of 
restricted fields, which will then be covered with plastic, creating a 
layer of intense heat that researchers hope will begin wiping out the 
worm. The strategy was developed in January by a team of scientists and 
experts from around the world.

The regimen may have to be repeated for as long as six years before the 
worm is eliminated, said Mike Cooper, deputy administrator at the Idaho 
Department of Agriculture.

"The big thing is we feel like we've caught this early enough and 
isolated it to give us a good chance at getting rid of it," Cooper said. 
"If we'd have caught it later we'd be going down some different roads 
right now."

Scientists say the worm does not embed itself inside the tuber, but 
instead feeds on vines and roots, draining valuable nutrients and 
stunting plant growth.

Last fall, Johanns authorized $13 million in emergency spending for 
testing, enabling researchers to analyze more than 38,000 soil samples 
from across the state.

The swift reaction and eradication strategy has helped ease concerns 
abroad, officials say. Earlier this year, Canada and Mexico lifted bans 
on fresh potatoes, and last week Idaho growers delivered 10 truckloads 
to Mexico, Muir said.

Japan remains closed to fresh potatoes, but accepts frozen products; 
exports to South Korea are also complicated by trade issues, Muir said.

"It hurt us in that these four markets shut down immediately," Muir 
said. "But overall, it's hard to say if there was a net loss because we 
managed to redirect those potatoes domestically.

"I've said from the get go that by the end of this crisis, our foreign 
customers will have more confidence than ever before because of the way 
we've handled this," he said.

Officials say another round of testing for the nematode has already 
started in some fields across the state.