About
The Parma Research and Extension Center is located one mile north of Parma and is operated by the University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences through the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station. The 200-acre center focuses on research and extension programs in production, storage and related problems of vegetable, forages, cereals, hop, mint, fruit and seed crops.
Farm land at Parma is devoted to research on many of the crops produced in the Treasure Valley. At the main station, 120 acres are used for row crop and hop research. Two miles north of the main station are 80 acres of desert land, 30 acres of which is devoted to tree fruit and small fruit research. Ten acres are to remain as uncultivated desert land in perpetuity.
The center also has 5,100 square feet of greenhouse space which is utilized year round and a new vegetable and fruit storage facility for post-harvest management research. There are 540 square feet of growth chamber rooms for entomology research projects. There is also office space, classrooms and laboratory space.
Interactive video technology allows students to take University of Idaho courses without leaving the valley and facilitates interactions with collaborators on the UI campus and at other UI research and Extension centers.
The Parma Research and Extension Center was established in 1925 to meet the needs of research and Extension efforts to sustain and improve the productivity of crops grown in southwest Idaho.