Guayule seeds deliver - TriValley Central
The 15 people focusing their attention on the plants and their seeds work for PanAridus, which has been in business in Casa Grande since 2010. PanAridus officials recently were granted nine plant variety patents for guayule from the U. S.... PanAridus has four other patents, two related to the extraction of rubber from guayule plants and two related to measurements of the amount of rubber in a guayule plant. The goal of the ongoing research at PanAridus is to develop strains of guayule that can be grown throughout many deserts, with and without irrigation, so that rubber production can become a domestic industry. Natural rubber is the second largest U. S. import, after petroleum. There is a shortage of natural rubber, PanAridus CEO and founder Mike Fraley said. With cartels controlling the importing of natural rubber to the U. S. , Fraley says the “perfect storm” is brewing with prices and demand increasing and quality and availability decreasing. Most natural rubber imported to the U. S. is used to make tires — about 65 percent of all natural rubber ends up in tires. Rubber is also used in the medical industry. Source: www.trivalleycentral.com
