ST. PAUL — MDA staff are busy again monitoring community gardens and small farms in and around urban areas of Minnesota for invasive pests and pathogens. This is the fourth year that MDA has implemented this project, referred to as the “Pathway Survey”, which focuses on agricultural areas at high risk for introduction of invasive species. Urban areas concentrate many pathways along which invasive species move and thus gardens and farms in and near urban areas provide excellent opportunities for early detection.
Each year of the survey has resulted in the detection of a new organism or a better understanding of the distribution and impacts of pests and pathogens that threaten production and / or market access for Minnesota fruits and vegetables. Most recently, the Swede midge was found for the first time in Minnesota in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties during 2016. The MDA is monitoring for the Swede midge and about twenty other insects and pathogens through this project during 2017. This work is funded by the USDA through the 2014 Farm Bill and by an MDA Specialty Crop Block Grant.
Read more about this project at the MDA website.
— Minnesota Department of Agriculture
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