Plant genomics company Evogene Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Evofuel Ltd., has completed three years of successful field trials in Brazil for the development of castor bean conducted in cooperation with SLC Agrícola S.A., one of Brazil’s largest landowners and leading agriculture businesses. Evofuel’s castor seed varieties have the potential of being highly attractive to the traditional industries currently using castor oil, such as the lubricant and biopolymer industries, which today face the challenge of castor oil price instability.

Evofuel expects to initiate commercialization of its proprietary castor seeds in 2016, following advanced product development and pre-commercial trials which are targeted to begin next year.