Ceres reveals energy crops that grow in seawater | Checkbiotech

Home | Contact Us | Partnership | Site Map

left shadow

Checkbiotech - for emerging fields of science

NEWSLETTERS SUBMIT CONTENT

Checkbiotech Home

Sign In | Register

bottom shadow


	View Edit Domain: BioEnergy Title: * Body: Farm land abandoned because salt levels are too high could be used to grow energy crops for biofuels production, according to plant science company Ceres.<br /> <br /> The firm has developed new kinds of crops that have shown tolerance to very high salt concentrations.<br /> <br /> Researchers have even tested their improved energy grass varieties with seawater from the Pacific Ocean.<br /> <br /> The company based in Thousand Oaks, California, is now planning to test out its new plant varieties at field scale.<br /> <br /> The US has around 15 million acres of salt-affected soils, while more than a billion acres worldwide has been abandoned because of salt damage.<br /> <br /> Richard Hamilton, President and CEO of Ceres, said: “We have energy crops thriving on seawater alone. The goal, of course, is not for growers to water their crops with seawater, but to enable cropland abandoned because of salt to be put to productive uses.”<br /> Varieties<br /> <br /> Ceres, which markets its seeds under the Blade Energy Crops brand, is looking at varieties of switchgrass, sorghum, miscanthus and switchgrass to make use of the new salt-tolerant trait.<br /> <br /> The company said it can “stack” the salt-tolerant trait it has developed with other useful traits to produce new varieties that will enjoy even higher yields in marginal areas.<br /> <br /> Richard Flavell, Chief Scientific Officer at Ceres, said: “When we begin stacking together salt tolerance , drought tolerance and traits that allow plants to require less nitrogen fertilizer, we can deliver significant productivity and yield increases with fewer inputs.” <br /> <br /> Copyright © 2010 BrighterEnergy.org All rights reserved <br /> Captcha: Please Enter Code : * Time Zone: * Select the time zone Vocabularies Newsletter: Domain: Show summary in full view Input format Filtered HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Full HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. news_filter Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. More information about formatting options			Related Articles Biofuels panel discussion Thursday Energy Crop Production Looks Good in Tennessee Ceres Completes New Round of Financing to Expand Commercial ... Two dairies receive grants worth USD 23,066 Auburn awarded USD 15 million for biofuels production Ceres Wins $5M Grant to Develop High-Yielding, Low-Input Ene... Firm to sell biofuel seeds to farmers The Renewable Identification Number System and U.S. Biofuel ... Ceres and CHOREN Assess Energy Crops for Thermochemical Prod... Ceres Opens Brazil Subsidiary to Support Sweet Sorghum Busin... Top BioEnergy Articles

Home | Partnership | Contact Us | Site Map | News Site Map
© 2000-2012 Checkbiotech.org | Disclaimer