Research Units

The Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory consists of two research units: Agricultural Systems Research Unit (ASRU) and the Pest Management Research Unit (PMRU).
 

Agricultural Systems Research Unit

NPARL's Agricultural Systems Research Unit (ASRU) involves eight scientists and many collaborators that represent a very broad range of disciplines focused on the long-term goal (10-12 yrs) of developing crop production methods and strategies for economical, sustainable dryland and irrigated farming enterprises in the Northern Great Plains. Most of the ASRU scientists are relatively new to their positions (only one has been at NPARL prior to 2000) and much of this work is just beginning. The primary thrust is necessarily on the establishment and initial assessments of these selected integrated crop production systems. Click here for the Agricultural Systems Research Unit Website

Pest Management Research Unit

NPARL's Pest Management Research Unit (PMRU) is made up of eighteen scientists and technicians, along with many collaborators around the world that focus on solving key pest and weed problems in the northern Great Plains. The emphasis is on developing and implementing biological and cultural management strategies that enhance profitability and environmental quality. Research is conducted in two broad thrust areas: ecology and management of key insect pests, and biological control of exotic, invasive weeds. The insect pests currently being investigated are grasshoppers, Mormon cricket, sugarbeet root maggot, wheat stem sawfly, and the wheat midge. Targets for weed biological control research include leafy spurge, knapweeds, saltcedar, white top, and field bindweed. All of the research targets, both insects and weeds, share a number of common features: each is a significant constraint to agriculture and causes millions of dollars in annual losses or damage; each is widespread and occurs across the region or across the country, and each has proven difficult or costly to control with current technology. Click here for the Pest Management Research Unit Website