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| Research done here at this Knox County center focuses on the needs of growers, particularly on increasing horticultural and agronomic crop quality and yields, and decreasing expenditures and pesticide use. Southwestern Indiana has the poteneial to become a major U.S. fruit- and vegetable-producing area because of its favorable climate and easy access to major markets. | |
| Horticultural researchers study weed and disease control in melons, as well as growth and management of grape, apple, peach, pear, blueberries, and strawberries. They test varieties of several vegetables and are evaluating herbs as poteneial new Indiana crops. Row crop research includes tillage, fertility, nitrogen management of wheat, and grain sorghum and soybean management.Ý |  |
| To help answer tough, technical questions posed by southwestern Indiana producers and to carry out applied research on-site, the Southwest-Purdue Agricultural Program was started at SWPAC. The program is staffed by specialists who conduct extension and applied research programs on-site. If the regional extension and research program works out well, it may be a prototype for operation in the next century. |  |
| "If Indiana melon growers didn't use fungicide sprays, they'd lose 50 to 70 percent of their crop to Alternaria leaf blight," said Rick Latin, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. "And they would be left with only low-quality melons." But not all scheduled, repeated applications are necessary, especially under certain weather conditions. Latin set up small microprocessors that could sense leaf wetness and temperature in three test fields in southern Indiana. Scouts from the Southwest-Purdue Agricultural Program checked the monitors and recorded hourly and daily data. Latin decided when to spray by using the field data in conjunction with a table that predicted Alternaria infection on the basis of temperature and leaf wetness. He got great results. If all melon farmers in southern Indiana used the system, and if, as a result, all farmers cut out three pesticide sprays, they would save $150,000, collectively. And they would use 18,750 fewer pounds of fungicide. |  |
For more information about the Southwest-Purdue Agricultural Center,
contact:
Melborn Lang
Superintendent
4669 N Purdue Rd.
Vincennes IN 47591Voice: 812-886-9661
FAX: 812-886-9997
Internet: mkl@aes.purdue.edu
