The Lower Coastal Plain Research Station operates as one facility in cooperation with the Cunningham Research Station and the Caswell Research Station located in Kinston. The station features a conference facility for agricultural education and training meetings, horticultural and tobacco greenhouses, burley tobacco drying facility, flue-cured bulk barns, equipment sheds, chemical and pesticide storage buildings and more than 250 acres of field crops.
Scientists across a variety of disciplines, from crop and soil science and horticulture, to plant pathology and entomology, conduct research on crops to advance modern agricultural practices.
What We Do
Tobacco
Researchers at the station tackle myriad projects focused on tobacco related to variety evaluation, plant nutrition, crop physiology, greenhouse production, weed management, organic tobacco production and pesticide residue quantification.
Row Crops
Researchers at the station investigate field crop diseases to provide precise disease management strategies. Using next-generation technologies, they are able to sustainably manage crops and improve the biological understanding of economically important pathogens.
Sweet Potatoes
North Carolina is the number one producer of sweet potatoes in the nation. NC State scientists are on the front lines when a new pathogen, like black rot, threatens sweet potato crops. Through pathogen research and field trials conducted at the research station, they are developing integrated management strategies to mitigate disease and avoid devastating crop epidemics.
Veggie Doc Lina Quesada-Ocampo
Lina Quesada focuses her work as an associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology on five key vegetable crops for North Carolina.
NC State scientist Lina Quesada, a regular at Lower Coastal Plain Research Station, is on the front lines with county Extension agents in helping vegetable growers deal with devastating plant diseases.
For more than 75 years, the Research Stations Division has worked with the National Weather Service (NWS) to provide accurate, statewide weather data. When you hear and see local and national weather reports, you can be sure meteorologists and climatologists are using information gathered from our stations.
The NC State Tobacco Field Day (formerly Tobacco Tour) will be held at the Cunningham Research Station in Kinston. Make plans to attend for updates in agronomy, insect and disease management and curing/mechanization.
Sweet Potato Field Day
North Carolina leads the nation in the production of sweet potatoes, and NC State University is considered a global leader when it comes to research and Extension related to the crop. Participants will hear about such topics as the development of new varieties and the latest in weed control and insect management issues.
Hemp Field Day
TBD. Spend the afternoon learning about hemp production with presentations and demonstrations from experts from NC State and NCDA & CS. There will also be vendors on-site for networking.
Pollinator Field Day
TBD. Bees, butterflies, moths, and other beneficial insects provide valuable ecosystem services through pollination. These insects pollinate important N.C. crops such as blueberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon and squash. Spend a day in the field with education, research and field-based experts to see how you can help pollinators.
