General Motors has joined hands with the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), India, to increase biofuel conversion efficiency of the oil-rich Jatropha plant by making it frost-tolerant. The research will also aim to make the plant more tolerant to severe climatic conditions. The improved varieties, developed in India, will later be cultivated in the southern part of the US and Latin America.
Indian researchers will explore how the yield could be increased as they grow Jatropha varieties on 83 hectares of land. They will also prepare a full environmental life cycle of Jatropha. After inducing the required genetic modifications, the scientists hope to see the plant growing in the roughest of climatic conditions.
Via: Rediff Business