11/03/06 Plant Made Medicine

Plant-made medicines. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. For nearly a year Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky and other Kansas officials have been working to acquire a bio-processing plant in Kansas. According to Polansky the process is complete - and while he says that's great news for Kansas farmers - he says it will also have a positive impact on folks around the globe. POLANSKY: It's a great opportunity for farmers in the area where the processing plant is located and it's really an opportunity for Kansas agriculture to connect with the healthcare opportunities. The 2 products, the first 2 proteins that will be processed here will assist in diarrhea and dehydration issues and not just in the U.S. but around the world. Polansky says the process was extensive - but will provide new revenue opportunities for farmers - and important medicines at affordable costs. POLANSKY: Two million people under the age of 5 die of these maladies around the world and this is an opportunity for life-saving medicine at a significantly lower cost. And at the same time we're going to see producers that have an opportunity to work with the company garner a two hundred dollar per acre net increase in revenue so it's quite exciting. Although rice isn't a traditional crop for Kansas - Polansky says the plant will use genetically altered rice for manufacturing medicine. POLANSKY: We've worked very diligently here at the department. We did a lot of research in terms of rice and it's water use comparatively speaking for example with corn and alfalfa and we learned early this year that basically the total evapo-transpiration use of rice even grown in a paddy flooded condition in Eastern Kansas is basically equivalent to corn only about an inch different in the growing season. Water is always an issue in Kansas - but according to Polansky - research shows it can be done. He says that's one reason why Ventria Bioscience decided to bring this bioprocessing facility to Kansas. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.