Potatoes,
cereal grains, hops, onions, corn, apples, and forage.
The Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station (IAES) is the administrative
research division of the College of Agriculture at the University of
Idaho and is responsible for the college's state-wide programming in
agricultural research. The IAES is located on the University of Idaho
campus in Moscow. Accordingly, the IAES is not a specific location (as
the term "station" might infer), but rather is a complex, integrated
network of locations, facilities, and faculty and staff all dedicated
to performing agricultural research in support of Idaho's complex agricultural
industry.
The Parma
Research and Extension Center, established in 1925, arose
from the need for research and extension efforts to sustain
and improve the productivity of the crops grown in southwest
Idaho. Located one mile north of Parma, Idaho, the 200
acre center houses University of Idaho faculty members
whose research and extension programs focus on production,
storage, and related problems of vegetables, forages, cereals,
hop, mint, fruit and seed crops. Farm land at the center
is devoted to research on many of the crops produced in
the Treasure Valley. Ninety acres at the main station are
used for row crop and hop research. Two miles north of
the main station is 80 acres of desert land, 25 of which
are devoted to tree fruit and small fruit research programs.
Ten acres are to remain as uncultivated desert land in
perpetuity.
Ten faculty
conduct research and extension programs at the center.
These programs include entomology, crop management, soils,
horticulture, pomology, nematology, and plant pathology. Helping to carry-out the programs are 15
additional full-time support staff including research support
scientists, post doctoral fellows, scientific and technical
aides, farm and maintenance crew and office staff.
Research
at Parma is not limited to the field. The facility provides
5,100 square feet of greenhouse space that is utilized
year-round. There are 540 square feet of growth chamber
rooms that are used for entomology research projects. There
are approximately 7,500 square feet of office space and
meeting rooms for faculty and support staff, and nearly
5,000 square feet of laboratory space.
The information
below briefly outlines the activities at the Parma Research
and Extension Center.
Entomology
insect pest management on urban and agriculture crops;
development of an integrated pest management program for hop;
research on insect vectored viruses of small grains and potatoes and
insecticides;
insecticide resistance in Colorado potato beetle;
research on pollination systems for alfalfa and other crops.
Plant Pathology
soil and plant analysis for nematodes; development of economical control
practices for potato, sugarbeet and fruit tree nematodes; plant disease
diagnosis and management; research on epidemiology and control of diseases
of seed crops, onion, potato, and fruit crops.
Plant
Science
commercial and environmental horticultural programs focusing on improved
cultural and management practices;
management and cultural strategies to assist fruit growers in producing
quality fruit with good storability;
new potato varieties and related cultural practices to reduce disorders
unique to southwest Idaho; cultural practices to reduce onion storage
losses;
study of seed vigor and quality and improved seed production methods;
weed management in irrigated cropping systems and non-cropped areas.
Soil Science
develop and evaluate diagnostic procedures for identifying yield-limiting
nutrient concentrations in plants and soils; improve fertilizer use efficiency
in southern Idaho crops.
29603 U
of I Lane
Parma, ID 83660-6699
Phone: (208) 722-6701
FAX: (208) 722-6708
Email: parma@uidaho.edu
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