Penn State presence made major difference in plum pox eradication
When plum pox was discovered in Adams County peach trees in October 1999 -- the first time the disease had been found in North America -- the nation's stone-fruit growers watched anxiously to see how Pennsylvania would respond. As the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture officially lifted the quarantine of the area's stone fruit Oct. 29 -- certifying the state as plum-pox free -- James Travis reflected on the 10-year, collaborative eradication effort and the agricultural catastrophe it averted. The virus threatened to wipe out the state's $25 million annual production of peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries. (more)