New USDA-NIFA Award : “Solutions for managing Allium leafminer: a new invasive threat to Allium crops in North America”

This $325,000 USDA grant will assist combating the Allium leafminer, an invasive species of insect that threatens the area’s onion industry.

A project led by professors Dr. Shelby Fleischer, Dr. Jared Ali of Penn State University and Dr. Brian Nault of Cornell University  is seeking to identify solutions to managing the threat from the insect, the first of which was discovered in Orange County in April 2017.

Local agricultural experts say the insect could inflict major damage to Orange County onion crops, but more search is needed to determine how growers can protect their crops from the pest.

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