Plant Production and Health
Focused on soil, disease and pest management methods that are geared toward the health
and well-being of crops to create healthier, more sustainable food sources and improve
the economic vitality of producers.
Plant and Soil Sciences
OSU has developed cross-disciplinary teams of researchers and Extension specialists,
such as the Wheat Improvement Team, to focus on incorporating scientific advancements
into products that affect the livelihood of agricultural producers. Field-based plant
breeding programs focus on small grains, turfgrass, forage and biofuel crops.
OSU has commercialized 37 wheat varieties since 2000 that offer improved yield, disease
resistance, grazing tolerance and insect resistance. The eight commercialized OSU bermudagrass varieties have been used in 26 states, including more than 100 golf courses, 25 professional
fields and 25 college/university stadiums.
Entomology and Plant Pathology
OSU's Integrated Pest Management Program focuses on pests related to every kind of
Oklahoma row, turfgrass and horticulture crops. The IPM team has had a significant
impact on the sorghum industry through its work with the sorghum aphid. The results have saved Oklahoma growers $6.2 to $14.4 million per year in lost grain yield.
Work in plant pathology includes monitoring the distribution and impact of major row
crop diseases in Oklahoma, conducting fungicide trials and monitoring and developing
responses to new or reemerging pathogens in row crops, as well as studying the genetics
of disease resistance and evaluating OSU disease-resistant breeding lines.
In other research
OSU plant geneticists focus on science at the molecular level to build genetic resources
and knowledge that will contribute to end-use products. Wheat Improvement Team geneticists
have discovered multiple wheat genes that have been instrumental to OSU's wheat breeding
program. Other research areas include soil, water use, crop management techniques
and tools, nitrogen management, pesticide use, agriculture technology and molecular
biology.
Scientists from the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology have studied
microbes and immune systems in different plant communities, and plant and soil researchers
have developed a variety of technology related to the management of cropping systems,
such as the GreenSeeker sensor, which determines how much nitrogen should be applied
to a crop.
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OSU Ag Research is Plant Production & Health
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