The extended agreement will see Syngenta evaluating its crop protection products and Ceres hybrids, while Ceres providing both seed and research support. In addition, the companies will coordinate outreach to ethanol mills and develop industry training programs.
Hardy crop sweet sorghum can extend the ethanol production season by up to 60 days in Brazil, while energy crop high biomass sorghum can be used as feedstock for biopower, such as heat and electricity, the company claims.
Syngenta global marketing director for sugarcane Adriano Vilas Boas said that the company sees sweet sorghum as a potential complement to sugarcane in ethanol production and is working with Ceres to identify the best protocols to fully protect and amplify the inherent potential of this crop.
