Weedy plant may make rubber

Russian dandelion grows well in Basin

Klamath Falls Herald and News

October 4, 2007

Fred Anderson, CEO of Delta Plant Technologies, points out the rubber-producing attributes of Taraxacum kok-saghyz, or Russian dandelion, in a test field in eastern Klamath County. Anderson is working with researchers from Oregon State University Extension Center to see if the plant can be grown in the Klamath Basin for domestic rubber production

   When Fred Anderson began looking at a potential domestic source of natural rubber in 2002, the commodity was selling for about 23 cents a pound on the global market. Now it sells for more than $1. 

   As industry scrambles for reliable sources of the gummy substance, Anderson, CEO of Delta Plant Technologies, is busy working with a plant that can grow in the Klamath Basin and produce rubber just as good as that from tropical rubber trees. 

   And it looks like a common weed. 

   “You’re looking at one of three breeding fields in the world,” Anderson said. 

   Researchers with Oregon State University and Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center partnered with Anderson’s company to see if Taraxacum kok-saghyz, or Russian dandelion, could be a viable crop in the Basin. If trials continue to show promise, the region could become a center of domestic natural rubber production. 

   The current source of natural rubber for the world comes from rubber trees grown in Malaysia and South America. About 85 percent of this rubber is produced by tree farms of 15 acres or fewer. 

   Synthetic rubber can be manufactured from petroleum products, but it is inferior to natural rubber. Certain products, such as aircraft landing tires, must be made of natural rubber and most synthetic rubber is blended with natural rubber to make it stronger. 

   Rubber dwindling 

   The rubber supply is dwindling. Increased competition for resources from growing economies such as China’s is taxing the supply. The farms that produce the rubber are shrinking because farmers are not replacing trees that are no longer productive. 

   Another problem is rubber production is concentrated in two regions of the globe.

   Terrorist threat

“A bio-terrorist could take out half the world’s rubber supply in five years,” Anderson said.
This led Anderson to investigate the Russian dandelion. The plant fared well in past Basin trials. 

   Much of the research on the crop is taking place in Oregon. Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center is growing about 8,000 plants of different varieties east of Dairy, with another 60,000 to 70,000 plants growing in Corvallis at Oregon State University. 

   Pleased with results 

   Anderson and researchers said they are pleased with the results thus far. The plants in the Basin are behind those being grown in Willamette Valley but they were planted later in the year. The plan is to harvest the plants in the spring. 

   Daryl Ehrensing, agronomist with OSU Extension Service in Corvallis, said there are still barriers to the project. While the plant has been grown for production before, the loss of seed stocks is forcing them to find productive varieties from scratch. There’s also the problem of overcoming the stigma of the plant as nothing but a weed. 

   “It’s a long way from a test plot to a commercial field,” he said. 

   No significant technical barriers exist, though, and the rubber industry is ready for another source and growers are always looking for new crops. 

   This crop of varieties will indicate which fare best in the Basin’s climate while producing the most rubber, based on root size and rubber content. 

   Roots weighing 25 grams and containing 15 percent rubber have been consistently achieved. 

   Investment needed 

   Extracting the rubber itself would be simple, either by grinding the roots or smashing and boiling them. The latter method, while more expensive, creates ethanol as a byproduct. 

    Anderson said investment money is still needed to propel the large-scale production of the crop, but there is interest in it from industry. Four tire companies have expressed their interest in the project and provided funding. 

   All that’s left is to show farmers the benefits of growing the plant. 

   “If we could get 20,000 acres, that would be great,” Anderson said. “More would be better.”

   A brief local history of Russian dandelion

   This isn’t the first time Russian dandelion has been grown in the Klamath Basin . 

   The plant hails from the steppes of Kazakhstan . Russian scientists identified Taraxacum koksaghyz as a potentially plentiful source of rubber that could be grown within Russia . 

   The federal government experimented with the plant during World War II. The Japanese had captured the rubber-producing areas of Malaysia and crippled the rubber supply. 

   The Klamath Basin was viewed as one of the best areas to grow the crop. 

   But after World War II, Russian dandelion was discarded. After the demise of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the Russians lost their stock of varieties. The United States destroyed all its plants at the request of the British to protect their rubber interests in Malaysia .

Anderson looks through the roots of a Russian dandelion plant. The tap root of the plants contain rubber equal in quality to that produced by tropical rubber trees.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material  herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed  a  prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and  educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Source:  http://pioneer.olivesoftware.com/Daily/Skins/heraldandnews/

navigator.asp?skin=heraldandnews