Virginia Tech Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center

06/17/2026

The stretch between planting and harvest is anything but "downtime." While the crops are reaching for the sun, we’re on the ground making sure they have everything they need to get to the finish line.

From managing irrigation and scouting for pests to perfecting soil nutrients and equipment maintenance, the work doesn't stop just because the seeds are in the dirt.

06/15/2026

Dr. Mott's first harvest of cabbage.

06/12/2026

🌿 Staff Appreciation Day! 🌿
Had a fantastic day at Pamplin Historical Park—toured the museum, Tudor House, battlefield, gardens, and even saw the to***co they grow! 🍃
Finished with a yummy staff lunch at the pavilion. Great team, great day! 💛

06/11/2026

Summer intern, John Chung seen here transplanting to***co seedlings that were first planted from raw seeds. Once they grow to a seedling plant will be used by the plant pathology students for research experiments.

06/09/2026

Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Katie Frazier along with Deputy Secretary, Benjamin Rowe visiting Southside Virginia farms as a part of Virginia Agriculture Week tour.

Photos by Yuan Zeng and Arash Rashed.

06/08/2026

Our very own Shirin Parizad presented at the 2026 Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) International Symposium, held last week in Blacksburg, Va.

Her poster presentation is titled: "Elevated CO₂ reshapes barley yellow dwarf virus dynamics across crop and non-crop grass hosts"

06/05/2026

06/04/2026

🌱 Growing Nutrition: Mung Beans Are Now Seeded

Did you know that mung beans are part of the legume family? Mung beans help improve soil health by adding nitrogen, making them a beneficial addition to crop rotations and home gardens.

Mung beans are small green legumes that have been cultivated for thousands of years and are valued for their nutrition and versatility. Rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, they can be eaten whole, split, or sprouted. In fact, the crisp bean sprouts commonly found in salads and stir-fries are often grown from mung beans.

06/03/2026

Congratulations to Shirin Parizad! She received her Ph.D. in Entomology (vector-born plant disease) from Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dr. Parizad also has a Ph.D. in plant pathology-virology from the University of Tehran, Iran.

Dr. Parizad's dissertation is titled "Invasive Aphids, Reservoir Hosts, and Endophyte-Mediated Plant-Vector Interactions in Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus Pathosystems: Revisiting Disease Management".

She is pictured here with her advisors; Dr. Thomas Kuhar, Dr. Arash Rashed(chair), Dr. Scott Salom, Dr. Scotty Yang, and Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode (on screen, joined from the University of Idaho).

05/22/2026

Please join us in welcoming this amazing group. They are here as grad students, summer interns, and extra summer farm help.
{L to R, front} Tori Lavelle (agronomy), Claire Ruscello (plant pathology), Lareyna Perez (plant pathology), Aoran Diao (Grad student-plant pathology), Awasar Ghimire (Grad student-Ag Economics), {back row} Jeremiah Daniels (entomology), Timothy Foster (to***co agronomy), Caleb Kline (agronomy), Ben Hite (agronomy). There are a few more that were working in the field off site or set to begin next week and unavailable for the photo. They are John Chung, Rayah Edelson, Parker Hite, A***n Srivastava, and Nia Stewart.