Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center

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The Station

The Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, formerly known as the Virginia Truck Experiment Station (1907-1967), Virginia Truck and Ornamentals Research Station (1967-1987), and Hampton Roads Agricultural Experiment Station (1987-1992), conducts research and extension programs that benefit the horticulture industry in Virginia.

Originally its focus was on vegetable production, but with the decline of the commercial vegetable industry, research activities were redirected in 1967 towards the nursery and landscape industries. The urbanization of the Hampton Roads area generated economic opportunities for the Tidewater agricultural community to shift their efforts to nursery production. Current research areas include: nursery production, landscape maintenance, turfgrass, small fruit production, and urban stormwater management

Specific research projects include: plant nutrition, irrigation , disease, insect, and weed control, and variety evaluations. With the assistance of Master gardeners, the station maintains annual bedding plant trials, perennial display gardens, a woody arboretum, and buffer and rain gardens.

DISCIPLINES

• Nursery crops
• Pest management
• Small fruit production
• Stormwater management
• Turfgrass maintenance
  
• Greenhouse Production

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

• Anaerobic soil disinfestation
• Digital image analysis
• Solar-heated greenhouse
• Stormwater modeling
• Use of drones
  

FACILITIES

• 7 laboratories
• 7 greenhouses
• 3 classrooms
• Container and field research areas
  

INDUSTRY PARTNERS

• Nursery industry
• Lawn care
• Landscape industry
• Small Fruits industry 
• City governments