Washington Certified Grapevines are the best insurance there is against devastating virus and disease. Inland Desert Nursery’s relationship with the Clean Plant Center of the Northwest at Washington State University and Foundation Plant Services at UC Davis means our certified vines are only a generation or two away from foundation-sourced cuttings indexed as disease free and true to type.
WSU scientists and WSDA inspectors are frequent visitors to Inland Desert, observing our nursery procedures and performing follow-up testing to ensure that the material is as reliable as when it left the foundation.
Inland Desert Nursery has more than 150 acres of WSDA-registered rootstock and scion propagation blocks under cultivation. That guarantees a long-term supply of clean plant material for grape growers in the northwest and across North America.
Inland Desert Nursery’s primary foundation source for registered plant material is the Clean Plant Center of the Northwest at WSU Prosser.
Research Behind Washington’s Certified Grapevines
Dr. Naidu Rayapati is a plant doctor. Specifically, he’s an Associate Professor of Virology in Washington State University’s Department of Plant Pathology and heads up its Grape Virology program. Dr. Rayapati is also a leading proponent of the exclusive use of certified clean and disease-free grapevines.
In addition to ongoing research at WSU’s Prosser research campus — which also hosts the Clean Plant Center of the Northwest (CPCNW) — Dr. Rayapati invests time with nurseries such as Inland Desert and grape growers to ensure that results of his research come into practical use improving the health and cleanliness of the state’s vineyards and the nursery stock from which they are grown.
Clean Plant Center of the Northwest
Over a decade ago, members of the grape and tree fruit industries created a program to promote the use of tested and proven healthy plant material. They were joined in 2010 by members of the berry, citrus and hop industries.
As a part of what is now the National Clean Plant Network, several Clean Plant Centers were created around the country. Prosser’s Washington State University — Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (WSU-IAREC) hosts the Clean Plant Center of the Northwest, which is focused on grapes, hops and fruit trees.
The CPCNW staff works with WSU-IAREC professors and researchers to expand and develop the variety and availability of virus-tested, “clean” plants for the industry.