USDA and DOE partner to develop better biofuel producing plants

Farm and Ranch September 10, 2010 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced research awards under a joint DOE-USDA program aimed at improving and accelerating genetic breeding programs to create plants better suited for bioenergy production. USDA scientist Dr. Roger Beachy says this is much needed research.

Beachy: “What we have not invested in this country nearly as much as need, is understanding the biochemistry of plants and then understanding how to tweak those systems to make them make what you want them to make.”

In this case more and better bioenergy.

The agencies say combining DOE’s leadership in genome-scale technologies with USDA’s long experience in crop development will help accelerate development of such specialized crops and improve their effectiveness as feedstocks for biofuels production.

The research awards the Agriculture and Energy secretaries announced total nearly nine million dollars. The focus is on non-food plants with an emphasis on perennials.

In the western U.S. grant recipients are the USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California which is getting about 950-thousand dollars, and the University of California at Berkeley, which is receiving a nearly 800-thousand dollar grant. Initial funding supports research projects for up to three years.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.