| [Image: Qinglin Wu Tiger Bullets] |
| [Image: rice field day] |
| [Image: sugarcane] |
Hole plugging technology creates new business, jobs for Louisiana
LSU AgCenter researcher Qinglin Wu patented a method to turn wood waste and used plastic motor oil containers into a composite material that when added to drilling fluid prevents drilling mud from seeping away from the drill and into the environment. A new start-up company, Hole Pluggers, signed a license to market the product called Tiger Bullets to energy companies. The company is contracting with Wallace Moulding and Millworks in Columbia, La., to make the product. Because of the housing slump, this company had laid off 30 of its 45 employees. But because of this new product, those employees and more will be hired back. This is another example of direct impact on economic development – a new start-up company, an existing company able to hire back laid-off employees, and taking waste products and turning them into value-added products (thus helping the environment). Read more about this story.
Research sustains crawfish industry
Louisiana produces about 90 percent of the nation’s crawfish, with 70 percent of that consumed locally. In 2008, the live crawfish catch contributed more than $125 million to the Louisiana economy. This amount includes $117 million from ponds and $8.5 million from the wild. The LSU AgCenter conducts research on crawfish production to keep this industry viable. This research is conducted at the Rice Research Station in Crowley and at the Aquaculture Research Station in Baton Rouge. The research goal is the highest yield at the lowest cost for the producer. Read more on crawfish research.
New rice variety helps Louisiana producers compete
Rice varieties developed at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station in Crowley, La., are grown not only in Louisiana but throughout the southeastern United States. The latest new variety is an aromatic rice named Jazzman. This variety is an alternative to jasmine rice and will open up new markets for Louisiana rice producers. Read more about Jazzman rice.
Sugarcane business depends on new varieties
The sugarcane industry could not survive in Louisiana without periodic introduction of new varieties. Old varieties become susceptible to disease, and new varieties must replace them. A major effort of the LSU AgCenter is sugarcane breeding. In 2008, the AgCenter released its newest variety named L 01-283, which is both disease and insect resistant. The variety was released in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sugarcane Research Unit in Houma, La., and the American Sugar Cane League, headquartered in Thibodeaux, La. In 2007, sugarcane contributed nearly $667 million to the state’s economy. Read about sugarcane variety development at the AgCenter.
Make fuel from sugarcane
The LSU AgCenter has released three high fiber sugarcane varieties in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Sugarcane League. These varieties show vigorous growth, cold tolerance and high yields of biomass. Biomass includes soluble solids (sugars) and insoluble solids (fiber, which is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin). These components can be converted to ethanol. These varieties serve a dual purpose as sources of both raw sugar and fiber. Read more about turning sugarcane cellulose into ethanol.
Soybean disease crisis averted
Soybeans are to be the most widely grown crop in Louisiana. But the soybean crop continues to be threatened by the spread of a devastating air-borne disease – Asian soybean rust. Because of the timely discovery of this disease by LSU AgCenter scientists and the quick action to develop methods of detection and control, a crisis has been averted, and soybeans continue to be a profitable crop.Read more about LSU AgCenter research on Asian soybean rust.
LSU AgCenter ranks first for commercialization of intellectual property
The LSU AgCenter has the most successful record of commercialization of intellectual property within the LSU System and, in fact, within higher education in Louisiana. Since 2000, nine new companies have been started based on licensing technology from the AgCenter. Royalties from these companies and from other licensing agreements have generated more than $29 million since 1999. This income is distributed among the LSU System (10 percent), the inventors (40 percent) and the AgCenter (50 percent), where it is funneled back into more research. The most lucrative of these licensing agreements has been with the international chemical company BASF for a herbicide-resistant line of rice varieties known as Clearfield. Go to Intellectual Property.
Economic development for Louisiana from sweet potatoes
The Louisiana sweet potato is considered the best in the world, and the LSU AgCenter is actively involved in expanding its world market. We have the country’s only research station devoted solely to the sweet potato in Chase, La. In fact, there would be no sweet potato industry in the state if it weren’t for the varieties developed at the LSU AgCenter and our foundation seed program, which provides healthy seed to help the sweet potato growers increase yields. ConAgra Foods will be building a new state-of-the-art sweet potato processing facility in Delhi, La. It's scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 and initially employ 275 people at an average salary of about $35,000 per year. Company officials said they chose the location to be in close collaboration with the researchers and extension specialists at the nearby Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase, which is the only facility of its kind in the United States. Read more about this success story.
Scientist prepares farmers for Mexican rice borer
LSU AgCenter entomologist Gene Reagan has been doggedly watching the slow movement of the Mexican rice borer from the Rio Grande Valley toward Louisiana over the past 30 years. At the end of 2008, the borer made its way to the southwest Louisiana border as expected. But because of Dr. Reagan and his research, Louisiana farmers are ready to take action, if needed, to avoid the devastation that would have occurred had we not been prepared. This borer is more of a threat to Louisiana sugarcane than to rice. Read more about the battle against the Mexican rice borer.