Apr 7, 2007

NRSP-5 Budget Cuts Threaten Fruit Industry

This letter was sent to Daryl Lund, vice chairman of the North Central Regional Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors.

I am writing in reference to the proposed budget cuts to the NRSP-5 program in Prosser, Wash. This is an extremely vital program to the fruit industry in the US. The proposed cuts of $50,000 per year for the next 5 years will essentially gut the program before they have had a chance to generate other sources of income. While we all understand that this is a very difficult time for funding of all programs, the NRSP-5 program is a foundation of both the US fruit industry and the protection of our food supply from outside pathogens, both natural and man made.

Without NRSP-5, the fruit industry will have no source of pathogen free propagation stock. This literally excludes us from the worldwide market. A great portion of the fruit grown in this country is exported. Without NRSP-5, we will not be able to keep abreast of the ever-changing demand for new varieties that this market demands. We will also not be able to guarantee that our fruit varieties are pathogen free. The recent outbreak of Plum Pox virus in the Eastern United States and Canada demonstrates how fragile our industry is to introduced pathogens. The potential for an industry destroying pathogen is very high. Only the very diligent efforts of NRSP-5 over the past several decades have kept this scenario from becoming fact.

With the recent terrorist attacks on our country, I find it hard to believe that there is a more important program in the NRSP system. How can anything rank higher than the protection of our food supply? Surely there can be a way to fund NRSP-5 until they have sufficient time to seek out other sources. This program is not expendable; it is the very foundation of our industry and it must be funded. It is one of the foundation blocks of our secure food supply and by extension, national security. I urge you to reconsider this action and would be willing to help explore other funding sources on NRSP-5’s behalf.

Sincerely,

Wanda Heuser Gale
International Plant Management, Inc.