Production Agriculture Research

Arthropod pests are numerous and result in billions of dollars in lost revenue annually. Traditionally, control of these pests has relied on insecticidal chemical applications or genetically modified crops. However, insecticide resistance has emerged in response to these strategies and new control measures are needed.

The long-term goal of this project is to evaluate the field performance of prickly pear cactus and two related species as potential for forage, food, and biomass crops for southern Nevada and semi-arid regions of the desert southwest.

Determine novel traits in tomatoes that can improve whole plant response and growth under high salinity and boron toxicity that ultimately benefit growers through better genotypes and higher yields.

Investigation into the genetics underlying the production of specific, beneficial antimicrobial compounds thought to have antifungal properties against plant pathogens.

Improving the health and growth performance of calves during warm dry summers in northern Nevada.

Water and nutrient deficits decrease a tomato root hydraulic conductivity (i.e., increase resistance) and can affect water uptake, resulting in daily transient plant water deficits and reduced carbon assimilation capacity. The goal is to understand how the interaction of plant nutritional status and water availability affects young root development and physiology under drying soil and upon re-watering.

Developing sorghum varieties with better stress tolerance for Nevada growers.