| [Image: Red River Station barn] |
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| [Image: Hanna Hanna] |
The LSU AgCenter’s Red River Research Station in Bossier City serves the agricultural research needs of northwest Louisiana. The primary crops are cotton, soybeans and corn. Research on these crops includes variety evaluation, insect pest management and soybean breeding. The horticultural research is focused on the production of greenhouse tomatoes and southernpea breeding. Some beef cattle research, forage evaluation and environmental research are also conducted at the station.
Attend the Red River Research Station Field Day June 18. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m.
Variety Evaluations. Variety evaluations are conducted annually on wheat, oats, corn grain sorghum, cotton and soybeans. These trials provide important information about the yield and other traits of commercial varieties. This information is used by producers to select varieties for planting that are better adapted to conditions in northwest Louisiana.
Crop Breeding. The most economically effective method to manage diseases and environmental stresses of a crop is to grow disease and stress-resistant varieties.
Though sources of resistance exist for many of the disease and environmental stress problems of soybeans, the resistance often is not present in recommended commercial varieties adapted to Louisiana. Public soybean varieties, germplasm lines and other material with desired resistance traits are being used as parents in crosses to incorporate resistance into high-yielding soybeans adapted to Louisiana.
The objectives of the southernpea breeding program are to develop disease-resistant pinkeye, cream and crowder peas for the fresh market. Emphasis is on peas that are adapted to hand or machine harvest with determinate growth and a bushy plant type.
Entomology Research. The entomology research program aims to improve insect pest management in cotton and soybeans. Commercial and experimental insecticides are evaluated for control of the major and secondary insect pests, the integration of both new and existing chemistries for insect control into the overall pest management system. Cotton pest management includes the evaluation of new transgenic cotton varieties and their integration into cotton productions systems and the development of basic biological and population data for the insect pests of cotton through the use of pheromone traps and other means.
Environmental Research. The Constructed Wetland is a part of a research effort to evaluate the effectiveness of natural biological and chemical processes on reducing water pollution. Agricultural crops need fertilizers and pesticides to grow and produce successfully. After it rains, some of these chemicals can run off into nearby water bodies and enhance the growth of algae. As algae grow, they take oxygen out of the water that fish need to survive and thrive. This research project has determined that a constructed wetland can prevent these chemicals from getting into the nearby Flat River, which runs into the Red River, and improve the conditions of one of Louisiana’s most valuable resources.
The constructed wetland consists of a shallow pond and a deep pond. The 3-foot-deep shallow pool is a swamp with vegetation that enables sediment to pull fertilizers and pesticides out of the water. The 9-foot-deep pond further reduces the level of impurities in a created environment where anaerobic bacteria break down the impurities.
Beef Cattle Research. The Red River Research Station maintains a herd of cross-bred beef cattle that serves as a test herd for evaluation of pasture management systems and fly control strategies. Research is currently evaluating Dallisgrass, fescue and several varieties of bermudagrass. Herbicides for fence rows and problem weeds in pastures are also being evaluated.
Greenhouse Tomato Research. The greenhouse tomato project features four 2,800- square-foot greenhouses. Research is directed toward cultivar evaluation and plant feeding systems for higher yields, better fruit quality and longer shelf life. Selected cultivars are being evaluated in a tomato grafting system that may solve root disease problems and enhance yields. Other research focuses on modifying greenhouse heating systems for precision heat delivery to the roots and plant canopy, developing cost effective methods to disinfect and recycle root media and the use of rain water for irrigation.
Teaching activities include an annual greenhouse tomato seminar, educational tours and training sessions and an early exposure of school children to agricultural life.
Other Features
The Red River Research Station is a 572-acre facility established by an act of the 1946 Louisiana Legislature. The station has an electronic weather data collecting system, is a distance-learning site for the LSU AgCenter and is headquarters of the Northwest Region. The station is at 262 Research Station Drive, Bossier City.
Articles in Louisiana Agriculture about greenhouse tomatoes:
Recycling Perlite to Reduce Greenhouse Tomato Production Costs
Pollinating Greenhouse Tomatoes with Vibrators, Blowers
The LSU AgCenter is one of 11 institutions of higher education in the Louisiana State University System. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, it provides educational services in every parish and conducts research that contributes to the economic development of the state. The LSU AgCenter does not grant degrees nor benefit from tuition increases. The LSU AgCenter plays an integral role in supporting agricultural industries, enhancing the environment, and improving the quality of life through its 4-H youth, family and community programs.