Mystery solved? New info on seeds from China
Packets of mystery seeds from China have been appearing in US mailboxes for the past few weeks. Now the USDA has released new information, identifying what some of it may be.
A man from Booneville, Ark., Planted unintentional mystery seeds he received from China weeks before government officials did not issue his warnings, and now this plant is ‘prepped for burning’, an Arkansas spokesman said. Department of Agriculture to Fox News.
The plant in question grew white fruits and orange blossoms, which looked comparable to a squash plant after they had been growing for two months. After conducting an internal analysis, agricultural experts in Arkansas determined that the Booneville plant is a species native to South and Southeast Asia.
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“Staff of the department carried out an unofficial identification of the plants and determined that it was Benincasa hispida – common name: Wax Gourd, Winter Melon, Chinese Watermelon. Out of an overabundance of caution, the plant material was burned, ”Arkansas Department of Agriculture public information manager Anna Thrash wrote in an email. “After further discussions with our USDA partners, we will transfer plant material to them in the future for official identification.”
The Booneville plant is one of the few, if not only confirmed, cases of the dubious foreign seeds being planted in the US. Although, thousands of Americans have reported that they received unsolicited seed packages for the most part from China and sometimes from Uzbekistan.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and State officials began warning the public last month not to plant the seeds after it was determined that these mailings were not isolated incidents. Several species have been successfully identified by the agency’s animal and plant health inspection service.
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“The seeds that APHIS has identified so far are not uniform or of any particular type. They include a mix of ornamental, fruit and vegetable, herb and weed seeds, “a USDA spokesman told Fox News. “Some of the species identified include cabbage, broccoli, kale, celery, coriander, coriander, sunflower, Ivyleaf Morning-Glory, Lavender, Basil, Rose and Garden Tomato.”
More than 9,000 emails from private nationwide nationwide have been sent to the USDA regarding unsolicited seeds, according to USDA APHIS Deputy Administrator Osama El-Lissy. In Tuesday’s radio broadcast from the bureau, he revealed that the USDA has so far collected 925 seed packages.
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Of the seeds tested, nothing too sinister was found. However, the USDA acknowledged that it had controlled only a small percentage of what it received.
Two harmful weeds have been discovered from two separate seed packets, which include killer and water spinach, according to El-Lissy. Another single-seeded package contains larvae of a leaf beetle, which is a common pest that can be found in the US
“Otherwise, we found nothing terrible,” El-Lissy said.
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He also reiterated that any person who receives an unsolicited package of seeds should contact the Department of Agriculture in the state where they live and submit a report. The site will then contact the USDA APHIS so that the team’s experts can evaluate seeds.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is warning people to look for unsolicited packages of seeds shipped from China. (US Department of Agriculture)
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Since most of the seeds come from China, the USDA is working with its counterparts in the country alongside the Chinese postal service to help identify the senders of these unsolicited packages.
El-Lissy shared that the USDA knows the names of the companies that send the seeds “, but we do not know the background information about these companies, and that is why we are cooperating with our servants in China to get some of these on senders to follow. “
“We have partnered with the primary e-commerce companies to use their own systems in stopping future shipments to the United States,” he continued.
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In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are working with the USDA to “distinguish all future packages shipped to the United States,” according to El-Lissy.
The seeds were shipped to other countries. U.S. authorities are taking precautionary measures as the nation’s economy remains shaky in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Invasive plant species such as pests can be harmful to domestic agriculture.
