NAAA Led AGDISP Modernization Project Awarded Funding from The Cotton Foundation

The AGDISP Modernization Project, led by NAAA, was recently awarded $35,000 in funding from The Cotton Foundation. The AGDISP Modernization Project’s goal is to update and improve the AGDISP (AGricultural DISPersion) software that is used by EPA to model the movement of spray in the environment after it has been released from a sprayer. AGDISP is the parent model of AgDRIFT, also used by EPA to model drift from applications. The Cotton Foundation funding came through a special project focused on priority research for the cotton industry. The AGDISP Modernization Project is essential for all growers – without accurate spray drift risk assessments for aerial, ground, and airblast applications, they face the possibility of losing access to the pesticides they rely on to protect their crops.

The AGDISP Modernization Project was established by NAAA to re-write the coding of the AGDISP model using a modern, well-supported computer language to enable improvements in model accuracy, expand the range of potential use cases, and to enable adaptation to new technologies. These improvements are essential to make the model accessible to other software developers so AGDISP can be further adapted to benefit all stakeholders across the pesticide industry. Other members of the AGDISP Modernization Project include pesticide manufacturers, grower groups, university scientists, and representatives from multiple federal agencies.

A modernized AGDISP will more accurately estimate off-target spray movement for all types of pesticide applications when EPA conducts ecological, endangered species, and human health risk assessments. It will also allow the drift reduction benefits offered by new application technology and techniques to be recognized by EPA, which in turn should result in less restrictive and more flexible application requirements on labels. A key feature of the modernized version of AGDISP is that it will continue to be available to the public and open source. This means the EPA can use it for risk assessments and companies developing new application technologies can incorporate it into their research.

The AGDISP Modernization Project is incredibly grateful to The Cotton Foundation for the funding. It is NAAA’s hope that other pesticide industry organizations and grower groups will join in supporting the project. A modernized AGDISP will ensure all pesticide application methods can continue to be used to protect crops grown in the U.S.