Otis Flyod Research Center

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Otis L. Floyd Reseach Center
 


Located about 80 miles southeast of Nashville on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee State University Otis L. Floyd Nursery Research Center is a research facility dedicated to the improvement of the Tennessee nursery crop industry.  It is operated through a cooperative effort between Tennessee State University School of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences and the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service.  The mission of the Nursery Research Center is to provide leadership in the strengthening and expansion of the regional nursery industry through research in the areas of pathology, entomology, genetics, horticulture and related sciences.


The 87-acre site of the Nursery Research Center was formerly a commercial nursery.  With the guidance of the late Otis L. Floyd, former Chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents and former President of Tennessee State University, Tennessee State University acquired the property on March 4, 1988.  Through partnerships among the Tennessee nursery industry, Tennessee State University, the USDA, and state and local governments, the necessary political, social and economic support was assembled to construct the research facility that bears Dr. Floyd’s name.  In addition to considerable support from the Tennessee nursery industry, the Center has been the recipient of donations from nursery growers across the US. 


Construction of the laboratory/administration building began in 1994.  The 20,000 ft2 building has 10 laboratories, offices for 12 scientists, a 200-seat auditorium, and 12,000 ft2 of greenhouse space.  Other facilities at the Nursery Research Center include a state of the art pesticide mixing and storage facility, a fire ant quarantine facility, soil mixing/posting facility, shade houses, propagation houses, irrigated container yards, a pot-in-pot yard, and an equipment/maintenance shed.  The entire site is plumbed for irrigation using either well water or municipal water.

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