Africa could be prime breeding ground for more castor plants.
After last week’s announcement of the creation of Leviev-Evogene Namibia Ltd., further plans to produce castor-based biodiesel is expected in Africa as it is substantially cheaper alternative than biodiesel developed from crops like canola and soybeans, said Evogene spokeswoman Liat Cinamon to ISRAEL21c.
Evogene is pursuing the growth of castor plants in non-arable land, and while the company said Israel will not be the location of a large-scale castor plant, Africa has the conditions necessary to produce such a project.
Approximately 250-500 thousand acres of land in Africa is expected to be developed with optimal castor cultivars to be ready in about three years. Cinamon said Evogene has 18 months research invested in the project and a commercial project is expected to debut within two years.