The collaboration between Evogene and SLC Agricola, initiated in 2010, is focused on developing advanced castor seed displaying high oil yield under rain-fed conditions and suitable for sustainable and commercial production in Brazil. In recently completed field trials, proprietary castor varieties developed by Evogene demonstrated improved yield potential and performance compared to existing cultivars.

Under the expanded agreement, the companies will continue to collaborate on evaluating Evogene’s castor varieties in SLC’s farm locations in northeast Brazil to determine the best performing varieties and agronomic practices suitable for commercial scale production.

Evogene’s castor varieties are targeted at being highly competitive with currently available feedstock for biodiesel, enabling oil production at a cost equivalent to approximately $50 per barrel, compared to much higher costs based on production from existing food crops, such as soybean and canola oils.

Furthermore, biodiesel produced from the Evogene’s castor varieties is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 75% compared with conventional diesel, according to Evogene. (Earlier post.)

Evogene is a world leading developer of improved plant traits, such as yield and drought tolerance, for a wide diversity of key crops through the use of plant genomics. The company focuses on utilizing its proprietary computational genomic technologies to provide a complete solution for plant trait improvement through combining state of the art biotechnology and advanced breeding methods. Evogene is collaborating with world leading seed companies to introduce its improved plant traits into key commercial crops under milestone and royalty bearing agreements.