Purdue Archives

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — A group of students from Purdue University has developed an organic additive that is designed to promote crops in vertical farms. The primary ingredient of the liquid biostimulant is soybeans. The innovation earned the team top honors during the 27th annual Student Soybean Innovation Competition sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance.

To win this competition, Purdue University students must develop novel applications for soybeans that satisfy a market need.

“The goal of this contest is to highlight the versatility of soybeans while addressing a need in agriculture or the general public,” said Anngie Steinbarger, a farmer from Edinburgh and one of the judges for the contest. “This biostimulant is mostly made of a soybean protein, and it has been developed to help grow crops. This seems like a slam dunk for what we want from this competition.”

The soybean alliance says biostimulants help crops germinate rapidly, achieve greater plant mass and yield, and improve nutrient uptake. The team says its organic product is not a fertilizer, but it does improve grow rate and ease crop stress.

“One of the major successes we saw with our product is how great it worked with lettuce we’ve grown in the greenhouse,” said Purdue Sophomore Cai Chen, who is a member of the winning team.

Chen says when biostimulant was added to lettuce, it was 30% larger than standard lettuce.

In addition to Chen, the other members of the team include Nate Nauman, a sophomore from West Lafayette and graduate student Emmanuel Alagbe of Nigeria. They will share the competition’s $20,000 top prize.

The team says soy protein peptides have antimicrobial and antibacterial properties which could help reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses in leafy greens.

Second place was awarded to a team that developed a hypoallergenic tape for athletes. Third place honors went to the creators of a biodegradable cosmetic face mask.

“Indiana soybean checkoff funds are used to find new uses and new markets for our soybeans; thereby creating demand and helping our farms to be more profitable and sustainable,” said Steinbarger. “Some of the products that evolve out of this contest could potentially have a positive impact on our soybean prices.”

WEST LAFAYETTE (Inside INdiana Business) –A team of researchers from Purdue University is embarking on a mission to explore agricultural sustainability as it pertains to a growing global population. The National Science Foundation awarded $2.5 million to an interdisciplinary team of Purdue researchers to examine how global stresses can affect local communities and vice-versa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also awarded an additional $500,000 to the program.

The team headed up by Thomas Hertel, a Purdue professor of agricultural economics, will include political scientists, hydrologists, climatologists and others.

“Agriculture is experiencing sustainability stresses related to land, water quality and water availability, and those will intensify in the future. Most of the drivers of those stresses will be global, and we need to understand how those affect local communities,” Hertel said. “As we look at potential solutions, we need to know what is most feasible, the side effects and how those will feed back to the global economy.”

The team grew out of Purdue’s Big Idea Challenge, which funds interdisciplinary research on global challenges and life-changing innovations.

“Local policies must be evaluated at a global scale to truly understand their impacts,” said David Johnson, Purdue assistant professor of industrial engineering. As an example, Johnson says restricting the use of the Ogallala Aquifer for crop irrigation in the Great Plains would help reduce the depletion of water levels of the underground aquifer, but it could also increase food prices and lead to deforestation elsewhere in the world. “Wherever regulation makes crop production less efficient, we have to think carefully about where production might shift to meet global demand.” The Ogallala is one of the world’s largest aquifers and it underlies about 175,000 square miles beneath eight states.

The researchers are searching for win-win policies that could lead to more sustainable agricultural practices without sacrificing the ability to feed rapidly growing global populations.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – Vincent Edwards scored 15 points, Carson Edwards finished with 10 points, and No. 21 Purdue dominated Valparaiso 80-50 on Thursday night.

With 8 minutes remaining in the first half, the Boilermakers held a 15-12 lead when Carsen Edwards’ fastbreak layup ignited a 21-4 run over the rest of the half.

Purdue (9-2) used aggressive defense and fast-paced offense, to force 11 turnovers in the first half that resulted in 11 points for the Boilermakers. Isaac Haas finished with 10 points for Purdue.

Joe Burton led the Crusaders (8-1) with 19 points.

The Boilermakers opened the second half with an 8-2 run and led by as many as 32 points during the final 20 minutes.

Purdue shot 45 percent (28 of 62) with 16 of its 28 field goals coming by way of an assist.

Valparaiso shot 33 percent (20 of 60). The Crusaders remain winless at Purdue and hold a 2-15 record all-time against the Boilermakers.ONE MORE WIN

Purdue coach Matt Painter is one win from notching the 300th of his career. The Purdue alum will have an opportunity this weekend to get the milestone win at home inside Mackey Arena, where the Boilermakers have won 13 straight games.BIG PICTURE

The Boilermakers took care of each of their early Big Ten Conference opponents last week. Purdue has four more non-conference opponents before continuing Big Ten play, including a matchup with Butler in the annual Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Dec. 16.UP NEXT

Purdue hosts IUPUI on Sunday.

Valparaiso visits Ball State on Saturday.