THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.,
Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy
crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced that the
U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has expanded
its grant to the company to develop traits in rice for Asia. Based on Ceres' success to date, USAID will provide an
additional $3.5 million to
Ceres over the next four years to
extend field trialing and development of the company's biotech
traits and trait stacks in rice. The company will also help foster
the development of local expertise in biotech traits in rice within
India. The USAID grant to
Ceres is administered in alignment
with the Feed the Future Research Strategy, which is a
component of Feed the Future, the U.S. government's global
hunger and food security initiative.
Since 2009, Ceres has worked
with USAID, which delivers economic and humanitarian assistance on
behalf of the U.S. government, under a $3.0
million grant to increase rice yields, especially under
stress conditions and on poor soils. India is expected to become the world's most
populous nation, but its crop yields lag behind other countries at
58th in the world. To increase cereal crop production capabilities
in India and other countries in
Asia, more successful breeding and
trait development programs are needed.
The new USAID funding will extend Ceres' trait work in rice for four more years.
Ceres researchers will focus
specifically on combining its best high-yield and stress-tolerance
genes into stacks, which can amplify the benefits of individual
traits. Ceres will also continue
to collaborate with a local Indian seed company to cross the best
traits and trait stacks into commercial rice types adapted to the
subcontinent. Work under the grant will begin at Ceres' facility in Thousand Oaks, California and through a
collaboration partner in China.
Evaluations of parental breeding lines are now underway in
India. Subject to regulatory
approval, field evaluations of the first commercial hybrids with
the Ceres traits could begin as
early as mid-2013.
Roger Pennell, PhD., Ceres Vice
President of Trait Development and the project lead under the
grant, said that one of the most important aspects of the USAID
grant is to help build the expertise and capacity within
India to ensure further
development of biotech traits as well as to help develop a
commercial plan to promote sustainable agricultural production and
greater food security.
"Domestic rice yields in India
are insufficient to reliably feed the growing population,
especially under drought conditions and on soils with depleted
nitrogen or high amounts of salt contamination. Our trait work here
offers a new opportunity to not only help increase yields in one of
the most widely cultivated crops in the world, but also to help
return low quality cropland to productivity," said Pennell. He
noted that in addition to its core energy crop business,
Ceres has generated many biotech
traits specifically for cereal crops, like rice, that increase
grain yields and provide greater yield stability across
environments. The company intends to license these traits to
established seed companies.
Steve Bobzin, PhD., Senior
Director of Technology Planning, Protection and Acquisition at
Ceres, and co-author of the grant
proposal, said that the performance of traits and trait stacks in
rice is also a good indicator of performance in other grass
species, such as sorghum, switchgrass and miscanthus. "We expect
that the evaluation of many of these trait stacks in rice will have
the additional benefit of accelerating their development in our
core energy crops."
ABOUT CERES
Ceres, Inc. (www.ceres.net) is an agricultural
biotechnology company that markets seeds for energy crops used in
the production of renewable transportation fuels, electricity and
bio-based products. The company combines advanced plant breeding
and biotechnology to develop products that can address the
limitations of first-generation bioenergy feedstocks, increase
biomass productivity, reduce crop inputs and improve cultivation on
marginal land. Its development activities include sweet sorghum,
high-biomass sorghum, switchgrass and miscanthus. Ceres markets its products under its Blade
brand.
ABOUT USAID
The U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) is an independent agency that provides
economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world
in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States.
As stated in the President's National Security Strategy, USAID's
work in development joins diplomacy and defense as one of three key
pieces of the nation's foreign policy apparatus. USAID promotes
peace and stability by fostering economic growth, protecting human
health, providing emergency humanitarian assistance, and enhancing
democracy in developing countries. These efforts to improve the
lives of millions of people worldwide represent U.S. values and
advance U.S. interests for peace and prosperity.
www.usaid.gov
ABOUT FEED THE FUTURE
Feed the Future is the United
States Government's global hunger and food security initiative. It
supports country-driven approaches to address the root causes of
hunger and poverty and forge long-term solutions to chronic food
insecurity and undernutrition. Drawing upon resources and expertise
of agencies across the U.S. Government, this Presidential
Initiative is helping countries transform their own agriculture
sectors to sustainably grow enough food to feed their people.
www.feedthefuture.gov
CERES FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This press release may contain forward-looking
statements. All statements, other than statements of historical
facts, including statements regarding our efforts to develop and
commercialize our products, our short-term and long-term business
strategies, market and industry expectations, future operating
metrics, product yields and future results of operations and
financial position, are forward-looking statements. You should not
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because
they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that are, in some cases, beyond our control. Factors that
could materially affect actual results can be found in Ceres' filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. Ceres
undertakes no intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should
not be relied upon as representing Ceres' views as of any date subsequent to the
date of this press release.
SOURCE Ceres, Inc.