Overview

The New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center (ASC) located in Los Lunas, New Mexico, was established in the 1950's. Since then, it has conducted research for agronomic and horticultural crops native to the area. ASC in Los Lunas primarily serves the Middle Rio Grande area and portions of central New Mexico.

The need for conservation plants in these areas is extremely varied and complex. This is due, not only to the demands of the many different programs, but also to the great diversity of elevation and climatic conditions that occur in these areas.

Located on 200+ irrigated acres, four miles south of Los Lunas, the ASC evaluates crop performance, crop adaptability, and related cultural practices such as irrigation, pest management, plant growth, and regulation and propagation techniques.

Also located at the ASC facility is the USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Center (PMC). This division of ASC's operation addresses high-priority conservation problems of the multi-state areas they serve. The PMC originally began as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Nursery in Albuquerque in 1935. In 1957, they moved to their present location at the NMSU ASC in Los Lunas. The PMC serves portions of a six-state area that includes parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.

Some of the uses for the plants developed by the PMC include rangeland improvements, reducing cropland erosion, wildlife habitat improvement plantings, and stabilization of critical areas that include surface-mined lands, highway slopes, gullies, and windbreaks.