June 30, 2023
Matthew Kaiser
Environmental Program Manager I
Pierce’s Disease Control Program
California Department of Food and Agriculture
1220 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Mr. Kaiser,
This letter describes the work of the Committee on Assistance to the California Department of Food and Agriculture Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Board on Grapevine Viruses and Grapevine Disease Research and transmits the committee’s critique of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board’s Request for Proposals (RFP) that was issued in December 2022. This activity was supported by Contract No. 10006123 from CDFA to the National Academy of Sciences. The review of the RFP was performed under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
In 2022, the CDFA PD/GWSS Board requested the National Academies to conduct a study with three interrelated activities: 1) Review of Proposals Submitted to CDFA PD/GWSS Board; 2) Critique of CDFA PD/GWSS Board’s RFP and Proposal Selection Process; and 3) Review of Current Knowledge on Grapevine Viruses, Grapevine Red Blotch Virus, and Grapevine Leafroll Associated Virus Type 3 Research Outcomes/Gaps and Future Research Approach. To carry out this work, the National Academies appointed an ad hoc committee, with Anna Whitfield, a professor of entomology and plant pathology at North Carolina State University, as chair and Alexander Karasev, a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Idaho, as vice-chair. The committee members’ collective expertise includes plant pathology, plant viruses, grapevine diseases, insect-vectored diseases, epidemiology, entomology, plant host resistance, plant disease control, insect control, biotechnology, genomics, plant-microbe interactions, insect-microbe interactions, insect-plant interactions, commercialization of research, and research program management. The committee roster is provided in Appendix B. This letter report addresses the second activity requested by CDFA PD/GWSS Board (see Statement of Task in Appendix A).
Between April and May of 2023, the committee met virtually in closed session and discussed via email the members’ views on the RFP and their suggestions for its improvement. During this period the committee also sought clarification from CDFA representatives1 regarding
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1 Kristine Lowe and Matt Kaiser were contacted by The National Academies staff via email on behalf of the committee on April 14, 2023.
the type of research that the Board would support and the requirements contained in the RFP. Comments received from the CDFA representatives factored into some of the committee’s recommendations.
We hope that CDFA will find the committee’s comments and recommendations useful in its efforts to solicit proposals to conduct research on grapevine viruses and their vectors with the goal of finding effective and sustainable disease management tools.
Sincerely,
Anna E. Whitfield, Chair
Alexander V. Karasev, Vice-Chair
Committee on Assistance to the California Department of Food and Agriculture Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Board on Grapevine Viruses and Grapevine Disease Research
