The Southern Plant Diagnostic Network

• Diagnostics: The University of Kentucky will maintain timely diagnostic activities year-round, with timely responses provided for all samples. The UK Extension Plant Pathology program will continue to submit all data on a daily basis to the NPDN database for the duration of the project, as defined by the NPDN policies regarding data submission and sharing. Our laboratories maintain APHIS-approved permits to receive samples from out of state and will continue to be available to process regional surge samples if the need arises, consistent with our responses to the Feb 2011 Surge Capacity Survey. • Training First Detectors: Training to build awareness among First Detectors of disease threats will be provided, to the extent the new budget permits, for all crops of importance in Kentucky. This will be conducted through diverse means, ranging from presentations to social media, with information on diagnostics, disease and insect recognition, new disease and insect threats, and disease and pest management. Training for Extension agents and stakeholders will also be provided through live and online presentations to the extent permitted by the budget. Updates will be provided through our Kentucky Pest News newsletter. • Professional Development: Our team places a high priority on professional development for staff and faculty activities that relate to pathogen detection and disease diagnosis. Attendance by key professionals at conferences such as the American Phytopathology Society meeting and relevant commodity meetings (such as the Midwest Fruit Workers meeting and the APS-Southern Division Meeting) are highly desirable, in order to conduct the best possible diagnostic activities. Unfortunately, budgets lately have been inadequate for much professional development of staff, but we will prioritize this whenever fiscally possible. • Committee activities: Team members will participate in various regional and national working groups relating to plant disease detection and diagnostics. This will help the Extension team keep abreast of new diseases. • Personnel: We plan to hire an hourly assistant for the Princeton laboratory to process samples during the peak diagnostic period during summer. • Other: The UK Extension plant pathology team will hold weekly/biweekly teleconferences in order to assure high levels of communication, coordination, and teamwork in the diagnostic domain.