Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center (SWPAC)

Resources

• Home to the Southwest Purdue Ag Program (SWPAP)
• Five greenhouses used to grow transplants
• Swamp cooled greenhouse
• Three high tunnels
• Two diagnostic and research laboratories
• Horticultural cold storage coolers
• Capability of variety testing for seed companies as well as fungicide and insecticide testing for agribusinesses
• Summer workforce to plant, maintain, harvest crops and collect data
• Onsite plant pathologist, horticulturist/vegetable specialist 
• Collection site IN-22 for National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) 
• Collection site VIN140 for the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET)
• Knox County Extension office located on site
• Vincennes University John Deere/Cummins/Heavy Diesel Technology teaching facility on site

 CURRENT RESEARCH

Although SWPAC is the smallest PAC in Purdue’s regional farm system, it is one of the most active in research on fruits and vegetables — crops primarily grown in southwestern Indiana. Projects focus on increasing horticultural and agronomic crop yields and quality while decreasing input expenditures, including  pesticides. An example of an IPM (integrated pest management) program used at SWPAC is MELCAST, a weather-based disease forecasting program developed at Purdue University to manage fungicide applications of foliar diseases of cucurbit vegetables.

Research on vegetables includes, but not limited to testing on muskmelon and watermelon varieties, strawberries, new specialty crop varieties, new product testing of fungicides and insecticides for disease and insect control and organic vegetable production. Research is also conducted on growth and management of wine and table grapes including viniferous varieties. 

Research is conducted on high value protected ag crops in three high tunnels located at SWPAC.

Row crop research includes studies on weed and disease control, variety testing on corn, soybeans, hemp and canola as well as nitrogen rate and micro-nutrients.  

Departments in Purdue Agriculture that currently conduct research at SWPAC include Agronomy, Botany and Plant Pathology, Entomology, Forestry and Natural Resources and Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.  

• 2022 Research Projects (PDF)
• 2021 Research Projects (PDF)
• 2020 Research Projects (PDF)