By BioFuels Digest
October 11, 2020

In Canada, Performance Plants Inc. and Missouri-based Kultevat Inc. signed a commercial license agreement, giving Kultevat rights for certain PPI technologies for use in Taraxacum kok-saghyz, a source for the production of high-quality natural rubber, in North America and globally.

Kultevat will leverage PPI technologies to increase the production of TKS rubber

Rubber is a vital material utilized globally across a diverse array of industries and sectors. Natural rubber (NR) is 40% of a US$26.6 billion global rubber market. Kultevat will leverage PPI technologies to increase the production of TKS rubber and thus to achieve its goal of ensuring a safe and sustainable supply of natural rubber. The yield-enhancing technologies licensed from PPI will further reduce overall rubber production costs by increasing rubber yields per acre.

All PPI technologies target different mechanisms and are focused on the use of the plants’ own genes for improved and stabilized crop yield performance under challenging climate conditions. PPI has validated and patented a wide range of commercial-ready technologies that include  Yield Protection Technology® (“YPT®”), Heat & Drought Tolerance Technology (“HDT”), Water Use Efficiency Enhancement Technology (“WET™”), Biomass Enhancement Technology (“BET™”), and Yield Enhancement Technology (“YET™”). Due to its diverse range of technologies, PPI’s biotech traits can be combined or stacked into a single plant variety for genetic and agronomic improvements.