Applications will be accepted through April 22, 2011

DAVIS, Calif., April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is offering assistance to California farmers to combat the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM). In this second year of the program, NRCS is offering Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools to prevent isolated pest finds from becoming a widespread infestation.

Eligible farmers are those located within 500 meters of a recorded trapping of EGVM. The affected counties include Fresno, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma.

Treatment will be based on IPM systems for EGVM developed by the University of California. Treatment scenarios vary depending on the nearby pest incidence and will include pheromone mating disruption and/or use of compatible chemicals. Options are available for farms that are organic or seeking organic certification.  

EGVM was first discovered in Napa County in September, 2009.  USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and California's Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), are the federal and state agencies respectively charged with protecting the Nation and the State from foreign pests such as EGVM.  In 2010, APHIS, CDFA and local Agricultural Commissioners implemented intense trapping and monitoring, and USDA and CDFA implemented parallel federal and state quarantines.

NRCS is providing funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Eligible farmers may receive approximately half of the costs of the recommended IPM strategies.

"NRCS will offer contracts that may extend for multiple years to address eligible growers' treatment needs," says Ed Burton, California State Conservationist for NRCS. "Beyond the immediate need of treating for EGVM, growers are also invited to consider the robust Year Round IPM program developed by the University of California" (see www.ipm.ucdavis.edu).  Additional conservation planning for air, water and other natural resources is also available upon request.  

Under the 2008 Farm Bill, agricultural producers need to meet eligibility criteria, including income limits, to participate.

Applications will be taken at NRCS offices in the affected counties beginning today http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=CA.  Sign ups will continue until April 22, 2011.

For more information on UC IPM recommendations for EGVM see http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/EXOTIC/eurograpevinemoth.html.

Additional information on EGVM is available from APHIS at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/eg_moth/index.shtml and from CDFA at http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/egvm/index.html.

SOURCE USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service