National Clean Plant Network Cooperative Agreement Program Request for Applications

This program continues funding for FY 2010 as provided under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (commonly called the Farm Bill of 2008) Section 10202; the National Clean Plant Network. The National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) provides high quality asexually propagated plant material free of targeted plant pathogens and pests that cause economic loss to protect the environment and ensure the global competitiveness of specialty crop producers. Priorities for this program include: 1) establishing and supporting clean plant network governance and related administrative and support systems; 2) providing for operations needed for the rapid and safe introduction, diagnosis, treatment, foundation block establishment, and release of clean plant materials for planting from foreign and domestic sources for commercial development; 3) conducting methods development to accurately test, develop therapies, and support the establishment of guidelines and standards for different crop species for certification maintenance; 4) developing partnerships with land-grant and other university-based extension and outreach services to interact with commercial nurseries, industry associations, and producers; and 5) developing and implementing audit and quality controls. Funding will be provided to Land-Grant Universities, Non Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture, State Agricultural Experiment Stations, State Governments, and Federal Agencies (to the extent that support to Federal clean plant centers is suggested by industry stakeholders) to support implementation and ongoing activities of the National Clean Plant Network. Applications for cooperative agreement funding are given priority if they are based on specialty crop specific, coordinated plans for developing and maintaining a comprehensive, cohesive, and efficient network.