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The
Plant Industry Division
is composed of four sections
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-
Apiary Section registers apiaries
and allocates pasturage rights to protect against overpopulation
or under population of bees; inspects apiaries for bee diseases,
mites and other pests and requires the destruction or treatment
of diseased colonies; requires a disease-free certificate on
all bees or bee equipment being brought into the state or moved
intrastate; educates beekeepers on the proper care and management
of bees and the general public on the value of bees as pollinators
through beekeeping classes, exhibits, programs, demonstrations
and through the distribution of educational literature.
- Commercial Pest Control Section
licenses termite and household pest control operators,
fumigators and custom sprayers of golf courses, lawns, shade trees, and
shrubbery and checks their work to determine compliance with the
law and regulations. Inspectors assigned to this section make
random inspections of properties under a termite control contract
and respond to complaints by property owners.
- Plant Inspection and Quarantine
Section inspects nurseries, plant beds and plant shipments; certifies
sweet potato plants; strawberry plants and turf grasses; enforces
quarantines as follows: sweet potato weevil, phony peach disease,
fire ant, soybean cyst nematode; and, enforces the Nursery Fraud
Act. The section supervises detection surveys and in some cases
eradication efforts for such pests and diseases as Japanese Beetle,
Khapra Beetle, Japanese Bloodgrass, Giant Sylvania, Itchgrass,
Purple Loosestrife, and Asian Longhorn Beetle; issues certificates
for movement of plants and plant products. The quarantine, survey,
and detection programs are cooperative with the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service of the USDA. Phytosanitary certificates
are issued on agricultural commodities destined for movement to
other states and foreign countries.
- Pink Bollworm Section enforces the
pink bollworm regulations as follows: gin requirements, movement
of cotton products, inspection of gin and harvesting equipment,
stalk destruction, and seed sterilization. The section maintains
surveillance of this pest for the purpose of preventing the introduction
of the Pink Bollworm to Arkansas farms. This is a cooperative
program with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of
the USDA.
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