Big Demand Exists For Alternative Crop
Unlike corn, soybeans and other conventional crops, most alternative crops don't have much of a market. But Cuphea (koo-FEE-ah), a plant native to North America that's also called the "cigar" or "firecracker" flower, has big demand already in place. Growers just need to boost yields and they'll have all the buyers they need.
"Detergent and soap makers are looking for a dependable domestic supply of loric acid, which they now get from palm and coconut oils," says Win Phippen, associate professor, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Ill. "Even meeting 50 percent of the U.S. demand would require 8 million acres of Cuphea."
The problem is that Cuphea is a nondeterminate plant whose seed shatters. Phippen and others are working to develop a variety that doesn't shatter when ripe and stops blossoming in favor of seed development.
Phippen is part of a team that includes USDA researchers at Peoria, Ill., Morris, Minn., and Athens, Ga. Technology Crops International is coordinating grower contracts and commercialization. Most of the early funding has been from Proctor & Gamble, a prospective buyer of loric acid.
Herbicides for weed control have been identified, and the small seed can be planted with standard row crop planters and harvested with conventional combines. The only adaptation needed is to modify grain-drying bins with canola floor panels to handle the small seed size.
Although the plant is native to the South, the leading candidate for a successful variety is best adapted to the upper Midwest, roughly north of Missouri. Less than 500 acres are now under contract with growers in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Current varieties have high yields, but lose most of it at harvest. To reduce loss, they are harvested at high moisture levels (up to 40 percent) to prevent shattering and then dried down as low as 8 percent for long-term storage. If shattering can be controlled, growers could use dry down chemicals or swathing to get moisture down to 20 percent at harvest.
"On our research plots, we are harvesting about 400 lbs. per acre," says Phippen. "To be economically competitive with corn and soybeans, we need to be harvesting 800 lbs. per acre."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dr. Winthrop B. Phippen, Department of Agriculture, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, Ill. 61455 (ph 309 298-1251; fax 309 298-2280; wb-phippen@wiu.edu; www.wiu.edu/AltCrops/cuphea.htm).
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Big Demand Exists For Alternative Crop 30-3-6 Unlike corn, soybeans and other conventional crops, most alternative crops don't have much of a market. But Cuphea (koo-FEE-ah), a plant native to North America that's also called the "cigar" or "firecracker" flower, has big demand already in place. Growers just need to boost yields and they'll have all the buyers they need.
"Detergent and soap makers are looking for a dependable domestic supply of loric acid, which they now get from palm and coconut oils," says Win Phippen, associate professor, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Ill. "Even meeting 50 percent of the U.S. demand would require 8 million acres of Cuphea."
The problem is that Cuphea is a nondeterminate plant whose seed shatters. Phippen and others are working to develop a variety that doesn't shatter when ripe and stops blossoming in favor of seed development.
Phippen is part of a team that includes USDA researchers at Peoria, Ill., Morris, Minn., and Athens, Ga. Technology Crops International is coordinating grower contracts and commercialization. Most of the early funding has been from Proctor & Gamble, a prospective buyer of loric acid.
Herbicides for weed control have been identified, and the small seed can be planted with standard row crop planters and harvested with conventional combines. The only adaptation needed is to modify grain-drying bins with canola floor panels to handle the small seed size.
Although the plant is native to the South, the leading candidate for a successful variety is best adapted to the upper Midwest, roughly north of Missouri. Less than 500 acres are now under contract with growers in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Current varieties have high yields, but lose most of it at harvest. To reduce loss, they are harvested at high moisture levels (up to 40 percent) to prevent shattering and then dried down as low as 8 percent for long-term storage. If shattering can be controlled, growers could use dry down chemicals or swathing to get moisture down to 20 percent at harvest.
"On our research plots, we are harvesting about 400 lbs. per acre," says Phippen. "To be economically competitive with corn and soybeans, we need to be harvesting 800 lbs. per acre."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dr. Winthrop B. Phippen, Department of Agriculture, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, Ill. 61455 (ph 309 298-1251; fax 309 298-2280; wb-phippen@wiu.edu; www.wiu.edu/AltCrops/cuphea.htm).
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