Hinds Today

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has announced that Mississippi will receive over $667,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address agricultural pests and diseases. This funding comes under the USDA Plant Protection Act Section 7721 and is aimed at supporting programs managed by the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service and the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC).

Hyde-Smith, a member of both the Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, emphasized the importance of this initiative. "Detecting and combatting plant pests and diseases is critical to the protection of agricultural production in Mississippi. It’s a constant battle, and this USDA funding will help our state identify and fight threats to our crops and forests," she stated.

For fiscal year 2025, a total of $502,763 has been allocated to various pest management programs in Mississippi. These include:

- MSU Invasive Insect Screening Lab: $170,000

- MSU Mississippi Bug Blues/Invasive Insect Education Outreach: $122,000

- MSU Bug Eyes/Volunteer Invasive Insect Searches: $63,500

- MSU Mississippi Bug Blues Educator Education Boxes: $55,900

- MSU Asian Defoliator Survey: $48,949

- MSU Pine Pest Survey: $39,414

- MDAC Exotic Bark Beetle Commodity Survey: $3,000

Additionally, the MSU-Pontotoc Mississippi Sweet Potato Clean Plant Program will benefit from a separate allocation of $165,000 through the National Clean Plant Network. This program focuses on addressing plant pathogens and pests to support U.S. specialty crop producers.

The funds are part of mandatory allocations included in the farm bill and are overseen by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.