Features Bioenergy Biomass
Ceres accelerates sugarcane trait development following positive field results

March 26, 2015 - Ceres, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company, announced today that its biotech sugarcane traits have been advanced to the next stage of testing ahead of schedule due to positive data from initial field evaluations under tropical conditions in Latin America. Leading product candidates are currently being multiplied for wider-scale field evaluations which are scheduled to begin in May and June 2015.

Ceres reported that its yield traits accelerated growth and increased biomass in elite tropical sugarcane varieties. In addition, plants with one of the company's drought tolerance traits maintained biomass yields under low water conditions, and in certain cases, maintained yields with as little as half the water normally required during production. Field evaluations represent a critical stage in the development of biotech crop traits, as they provide greater insight into how traits may perform in an agricultural setting.