Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Georgia Ballroom (Sheraton Hotel Atlanta)
At the urging of the grape and fruit tree industries, the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) was established to provide high quality asexually propagated plant material free of targeted plant pathogens and pests for growers in the United States. In 2008, the NCPN was initiated with grapes and fruit tree crops. This was followed by the addition of citrus, berries and hops in 2010 and roses and sweet potatoes in 2015. Each specialty crop has its own commodity network composed of representatives from industry, academia, extension, state government and other interested experts. This program supports translational research, education and extension initiatives to maintain the network’s high quality collections and strengthen its services. Since being established in 2015, the National Clean Plant Network for Roses (NCPNR) has been working to augment, renovate and improve the current rose collection at the Foundation Plant Services (Davis, CA), to assess the frequency of viruses in roses in the USA, to develop educational materials, and to establish the best protocols for determining the pathogen status of a rose.