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Colorado State University is leading a team of researchers
who plan to develop sunflowers into a rubber-producing crop, alleviating the
harvest of rubber trees in Southeast Asia and Brazil - currently the only
natural source of rubber
in the world.
The United States is currently totally dependent upon imports for its rubber
supply, importing nearly 1.3 million tons a year at a cost of $2 billion. Almost
all natural rubber comes from rubber trees including those grown on plantations
in Malaysia
and in Brazilian rain forests. Currently the production of rubber trees on
Malaysian plantations is diminishing because farmers there consider it to be a
crop with low value.
Research at Colorado State will be based at the Western Colorado Research
Center, a part of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Colorado State. It will
explore ways to increase rubber production in sunflowers. Other project
collaborators will look
at optimizing rubber production in guayule, a plant native to southwestern
states.
"Sunflowers naturally produce a small amount of rubber," said Calvin
Pearson, Colorado State professor and research agronomist and research project
coordinator. "By developing new sunflower varieties, the quality and quantity of
rubber in sunflowers
can be increased. Guayule naturally produces high quality rubber, but more
research is needed to make it a more profitable crop. By developing these crops,
we're able to support our national economy and become less dependent upon
imports."
Natural rubber is an irreplaceable raw material and is a component of more
than 400,000 products including 400 medical devices. The United States, which
uses about 20 percent of the global rubber supply, is the single largest
consumer of natural
rubber. About half of the global rubber supply is natural, and the other half is
synthetic. The federal government last year made finding alternative, domestic
sources of rubber production a national priority.
"Although rubber supplies are currently sufficient to meet market demand,
the supply will likely diminish since plantation owners don't see the crop as
profitable," said Lee Sommers, Colorado State Agricultural Experiment Station
director. "This could
lead to stress on the American economy since so many products we use in our
day-to-day life depend upon rubber."
The four-year research project will investigate enhancing rubber production
in crops suitable for the United States through developing
environmentally-friendly, productive varieties of sunflower and guayule plants.
The group received a $2.5 million
U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to foster rubber production. Colorado State
built a new laboratory and growth chamber at the Western Colorado Research
Center in Fruita.
In addition to Pearson, the core team of researchers collaborating on the
project are Katrina Cornish, plant physiologist and rubber biochemist,
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Albany, Calif; Jay Keasling, professor and
metabolic engineer,
University of California,
Berkeley; Dennis T. Ray, professor and plant breeder, University of Arizona;
and John Vederas, chemistry professor, University of Alberta, Canada.
Others who will participate are Andrew McAloon, cost engineer,
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Wyndmoore, Penn.; and Harold Larson,
associate professor and plant pathologist; Robert Hammon, research associate and
entomologist; and Rod L. Sharp,
Extension agriculture and business management economist specialist,
all with Colorado State.
Reporters who are looking for more information about the following press release should contact the media contact listed at the top of the release. The media contact does not have appropriate information to share with the public. Members of the public who are looking for more information should contact their local Extension office, usually listed in the county government section of the local phone book.
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Uploaded Tuesday, September 25, 2007
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