Many companies, philanthropic organizations, and national and international entities tout alternative crops for their potential to curb climate change. They provide grants for research into the dandelion plant which one day they hope can replace rubber.
A number of researchers and farmers who received the funding are optimistic about the potential of this plant. They also say that this plant is important in a number of regions of the world, to fight hunger. However, they also stress, drastic changes need to be made in the market and in processing processes, before we can see fields filled with these unique crops, especially in the US, where corn and soybeans are still dominant.
Katrina Cornish, a professor at Ohio State University who studies alternative rubber. Currently, he is growing dandelions and desert guayule shrubs in a greenhouse, at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, in Wooster, Ohio.
He and other researchers harvest the elastic rubber material they produce and use special machines to turn it into condoms, medical gloves and parts of tracheal tubes. According to him, these products could change the agricultural landscape in the United States, forever.
“My work is not finished, until it becomes a permanent feature of the landscape. One cannot imagine America without corn or soybeans in it. But I want to see an America that you can't imagine not being a major rubber producer. That's what has to happen,” he said.
Angel Dias, Independent Contractor, works in a greenhouse with guayule plants at a Bridgestone Bio Rubber farm in Eloy, Arizona, February 5, 2024, . (AP/Ross D. Franklin)
In Arizona, guayule also thrives in the drought, its blue-green leaves separated from the dry soil that litters it, on research and development farms operated by the Bridgestone tire company.
Most rubber comes from Hevea trees, and the processing is done overseas, the United States is not prepared to process rubber domestically. But Cornish also said the threat of disease, climate change and international trade tensions could mean that growing and processing alternative ingredients domestically is a smart investment.
“You have to start small so you can fund the processing plant. “We have to build the first processing plant and then it will expand, based on the profitability and commercial viability of that first processing plant,” Cornish added.
Katrina Cornish, a professor at Ohio State University who studies rubber alternatives, models a medical glove made from latex produced from the desert guayule bush, in Wooster, Ohio, Tuesday, February 6, 2024. (AP/Joshua A. Bickel)
Bridgestone has played a limited role in research and development over the last ten years. In just the last two years, the company has shifted into the exploration business.
David Dierig is manager at Bridgestone Agro Operations Guayule Research Farm.
“The reason why we are so interested in guayule is because we need a domestic source of natural rubber. “If we continue to depend on supplies originating from Southeast Asia, there are many risks that might occur,” he said.
Dierig also said that this plant is much more resilient than other plants cultivated in Arizona for agriculture, because it is resistant to drought.
On average, this crop requires less water than crops such as corn, cotton, alfalfa, wheat. All of these plants require more water than guayule plants. “So, this is really a perfect crop that will be suitable for agricultural land, giving farmers the opportunity to make decisions about other crops, by planting crops that require less water,” he concluded. (ns/lt)