APHIS Adds Methyl Bromide Fumigation of Cottonseed to Treatment PPQ Manual
A treatment schedule for methyl bromide fumigation of cottonseed for the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporumf. sp. vasinfectum (FOV) was added to the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual, said the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. APHIS also prepared a treatment evaluation document that describes the new treatment schedule and says APHIS determined that it is effective at neutralizing FOV, certain strains of which are quarantine pests, and is requesting comments on its treatment schedule by July 30.
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The APHIS Treatment Manual is available here.
(APHIS said certain strains of FOV are present in Australia and not in the U.S. These strains are quarantine pests and could have significant impact on U.S. cotton production. Fumigation with methyl bromide was the only approved treatment for FOV so when the Environmental Protection Agency canceled the tolerance for methyl bromide on cottonseed, trade ceased. However, EPA proposed on April 6 to reinstate the tolerance of methyl bromide on cottonseed, which would allow trade with Australia to resume if an effective treatment schedule is added to the PPQ Treatment Manual. APHIS said It is important to resume trade in cottonseed with Australia as soon as possible because fumigated cottonseed can be used as animal feed, and the supply of domestic animal feed has been hurt by recent droughts in cotton-growing regions of the U.S.)