New USDA Horticultural Lab Underway

The U.S. Department of Agriculture broke ground in Poplarville, Miss., yesterday for the new Southern Horticultural Laboratory where scientists will develop new plant cultivars and cultural methods for horticulture production in Gulf Coast states.

The laboratory will be located at the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Small Fruits Research Station in Poplarville. It will cost $10 million to build, and construction is scheduled to be complete in December 2004. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Research at the laboratory will focus on the genetic improvement and release of small fruit and ornamental cultivars adapted to the growing conditions of the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Researchers in the new laboratory will develop improved cultural and management practices for the production of small fruits, ornamentals, vegetables, melons and other crops grown in the region.

The 30,000-square-foot building will accommodate 50 scientists and support personnel from both ARS and Mississippi State University. Researchers will have backgrounds in such diverse disciplines as horticulture, genetics, plant physiology, entomology, plant pathology and postharvest physiology.

James Spiers, the station’s research leader, says that ARS cooperates with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the Mississippi Extension Service to transfer research to industry. Findings from blueberry and other fruit research at the station have already been incorporated into the cultural practices of Gulf Coast producers.

A growing ornamental research program is underway at Poplarville, including the development of improved forms of hibiscus, pest-resistant crape myrtles, and disease-resistant dogwood and daylilies. ARS researchers and their cooperators will provide new plant varieties, cultural information and guidance for the future growth of ornamental industries in the Gulf Coast region.