[Pollinator] FYI-USDA Release: USDA AWARDS $4.1 MILLION TO STUDY COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER

[R. Thomas Van Arsdall]

Pollinator Partnership (P2) sent a letter of support for this project.  The
announcement has been anticipated for several weeks.  More needs to be done,
and P2 will continue to help identify needs. But this is a step in the right
direction!  RTVA
  

http://www.usda.gov/2008/07/0188.xml

Release No. 0188.08 
Contact: 
Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188 
   
USDA AWARDS $4.1 MILLION TO STUDY COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER 
 
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008 - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced today
that more than $4 million will be awarded to the University of Georgia to
study the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and other diseases
affecting bee populations, whose pollination is valued at $15 billion
annually to U.S. agriculture. 

"Bees are an extremely valuable contributor to the overall productivity of
American agriculture, but invasive pests, diseases and environmental
stresses are putting U.S. bees at serious risk," Schafer said. "This
research will help beekeepers meet the pollination demand for the nation's
food supply." 

The Protection of Managed Bees Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP),
funded through a 4-year grant from USDA's Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), aims to improve the health of
managed bee populations in agricultural systems. The research will address
genomics, breeding, pathology, immunology and applied ecology to explain the
causes behind dwindling bee populations. Researchers will work closely with
the extension community and other stakeholders to develop and implement
mitigation strategies for CCD and other significant problems. 

CCD became a matter of concern in the winter of 2006-2007 when an estimated
25 percent of the beekeepers in the United States reported major losses of
adult bees from their hives. 

CAP projects combine significant funding over time and across institutions
to support discovery and applications, and promote communication leading to
innovative science-based solutions to critical and emerging national
priorities and needs. These integrated projects focus not only on research
to solve critical issues, but also feature education and extension
components that bring knowledge gained through research to citizens at the
local level. The project will complement and/or link with existing programs
and projects at the national level. 

CSREES committed $1.7 million to honeybees and pollinator research in Fiscal
Year 2007. National program leaders at USDA's Agricultural Research Service
and CSREES developed an action plan for CCD, which is a long-term plan for
research, extension and educational activities that are recommended to
address this important problem. Background information about CCD and the
action plan is available at www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd. 

CSREES funded this CAP project under the National Research Initiative. Dr.
Mary Purcell-Miramontes, national program leader for arthropod and nematode
biology, developed this new CAP project and will be coordinating this new
funding opportunity. 

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension
programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues
impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more
information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov.  
 
#

USDA News
oc.news at usda.gov 
202 720-4623


 
R. Thomas (Tom) Van Arsdall, Director, Public Affairs, Pollinator
Partnership
tva at pollinator.org 
For More Information, http://www.pollinator.org