
Midwest Farmers Get a New Crop for a New
MillenniumBy Linda
McGraw December 6, 1999Farmers in the next millennium may
plant new crops on land where corn and soybeans once grew, thanks to
cooperative research efforts of Agricultural
Research Service and Oregon State
University researchers. Getting new crops into greater use tomorrow hinges
on developing products and markets for their oil and fiber today, according to
Thomas P. Abbott, leader of new crops research at the
National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill. ARS chemist Bliss S. Phillips and other Peoria researchers are processing
cupheas seed into oil and developing coproducts to help create markets
for the oil, which is rich in medium-chain triglycerides such as lauric and
capric acid. Industrial oils made from these acids are valuable to the United
States because they can replace others made from imported palm kernel and
coconut oil. Lauric acid is used in foods--mostly vegetable shortenings--as a
defoaming agent and a booster for soaps and detergents. Until now, domesticating cuphea has been hindered by problems with seed
shattering, stickiness and dormancy. These problems have been overcome by
Oregon State University plant breeder
Steven J.
Knapp. He has genetically redesigned cuphea in work that was funded, in
part, by ARS. Phillips is helping midwestern farmers plant the new generation
of cuphea plants with traditional farm equipment. This should help smooth the
way for farmers to plant cuphea in rotation with corn and soybeans every three
years. The benefit: cuphea can help disrupt the life cycle of corn rootworms--
pests that account for more pesticide use on U.S. row crops than any other
insect. Corn rootworms can cost up to $1 billion a year in control and yield
losses. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. A story
about the development of other new crops for future planting by Midwest farmers
can be found in the December issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
Click here to
read the story on the web. Scientific contact: Thomas P. Abbott, ARS National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research, 1815 N. University Street, Peoria, IL 61604,
phone (309) 681-6533, fax (309) 681-6524,
[email protected].
U.S. Department of Agriculture | |