Yulex Corporation opens Guayule seed and genetics R&D centre

Yulex Corporation is opening a Seed & Genetics Center focused the development of guayule plantations and best practice for all kinds of applications. According to the company, Yulex’s Seed & Genetics Center will support the global commercial development of guayule. Additional research activities at the Center involve the refinement of sustainable production techniques designed to improve guayule’s rubber yield and quality through natural processes, with a focus on soil management and natural crop production inputs.

As part of Yulex’s global licensing programme, which has started with ENI’s Versalis in Europe, licensees will have access to commercial quantities of guayule seeds developed by the Yulex Center to establish crops in new regions. Yulex has the capability to rapidly expand, harvest and to clean commercial volumes of Certified Guayule Seed. Yulex and Yulex’s licensees plan significant global guayule acreage expansion. The Yulex Center will provide ongoing R&D, coordinate with local Universities in new growing areas, and support commercial guayule programs.

“We are proud to launch our new, international guayule Seed & Genetics Center in Arizona, as it validates Yulex’s growing agricultural footprint and the demand for guayule as a viable, industrial crop that can sustainably meet the growing global demand for rubber,” said Jeff Martin, Chief Executive Officer, President and Co-founder of Yulex Corporation.

The Center directly administers and coordinates Yulex’s recently announced agricultural partnerships to improve guayule for commercial production. Work with the University of Arizona applies classical breeding to existing Yulex guayule lines and selected outliers. Supporters of this product state that Guayule does not compete against food or fiber crops. Instead it is a renewable source of natural rubber that can replace petroleum-based synthetics, and requires low inputs.