Homeland Security and the CAPS program
The Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) is a combined effort by Federal and State agricultural organizations to conduct surveillance, detection, and monitoring of agricultural crop pests and biological control agents. Survey targets include weeds, plant diseases, insects, nematodes, and other invertebrate organisms. In Tennessee, the CAPS program is coordinated from within the University of Tennessee Entomology and Plant Pathology Department.
Components of the CAPS program include:
- survey, detection, and identification activities in the field and the laboratory;
- State level databases;
- a National database - the National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS); and
- electronic information exchange systems.
The current CAPS program goals include:
- Detect exotic pests before they can become well established
- Facilitate the export of U.S. Agricultural products
- Collect and manage survey data from PPQ cooperative programs
Species of Current Interest:
- Ralstonia
- Potato Wart
- Sudden Oak Death
- Soybean Rust
- Asian Longhorned Beetle
- Plum Pox
- Emerald Ash Borer
- Giant African Snails
- Leek Moth
- Swede Midge
- Chrysanthemum White Rust
- European Gypsy Moth
- Imported Fire Ant
- Japanese Beetle
- Pine Shoot Beetle
- Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
- Giant Salvinia
- Giant Hogweed
- Tropical Soda Apple
- Purple Loosestrife
- Asian Soybean Rust
Three Legally Mandated Responsibilities of PPQ are:
- To protect American agriculture from foreign plant pest introduction and establishment,
- to facilitate export of American agricultural products, and
- to control or eradicate pests as authorized by legislation and regulation.
The CAPS Program assists PPQ in meeting these responsibilities by providing means for detection, documentation, and rapid dissemination of information on plant pests and biocontrol agents in the U.S. CAPS serves the public and private sectors by improving the quality and availability of pest information. The existing CAPS networks are committed to expanding utilization of pest data in support of an environmentally sound, competitive, and profitable American agricultural system. Most of these are coordinated at the state level by the Land Grant Universities, such as the University of Tennessee, and the state departments of agriculture.
APHIS/PPQ Links
Contact This Department
Elizabeth Long, Extension Specialist
2505 E. J. Chapman Drive
370 Plant Biotechnology Bldg.
Knoxville, TN 37996-4560
Phone: 865-974-7135
Fax: 865-974-8868
Email: ealong@utk.edu