REHOVOT, Israel, Feb. 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evogene Ltd. (NYSE:EVGN) (TASE:EVGN), a leading company for the improvement of crop productivity and economics for the food, feed and biofuel industries, announced today the signing of a collaboration agreement between its wholly-owned subsidiary Evofuel Ltd. and Insolo Agroindustrial S.A., for the selection and optimization of Evofuel's proprietary castor bean varieties in Insolo farms located in Piaui state in northeast Brazil.
The two-year collaboration between the two companies will examine the suitability and adaptability of growing Evofuel's castor varieties as a second crop solution for Insolo farms located in one of the fastest developing agricultural regions in Brazil – the Cerrado. In the framework of the collaboration, the two companies will jointly evaluate the economic and agronomic benefits of growing Evofuel's castor seed varieties in this area, selecting the best performing varieties, and developing the agronomic know-how to integrate castor into Insolo's production system.
Assaf Oron, General Manager of Evofuel, stated: "We are very excited to add Insolo as a partner in Brazil. The collaboration is a further step in Evofuel's expansion plans in Brazil as we near our commercial targets for 2016. Insolo is a pioneer in the development of agriculture in Piaui and the Cerrado region, Brazil's agricultural 'new frontier', and we are proud to have their support as we look to address a key need in the region for second crop solutions."
Evofuel focuses on the development of castor bean seeds for industrial use and production of oil feedstock suitable for the growing biofuel market. Utilizing the unique characteristics of castor's high oil content and ability to withstand relatively harsh conditions, Evofuel is focused on growing castor as a second crop solution, particularly in semi-arid regions such as northeast Brazil.
Evofuel recently announced its on-going collaboration with Case New Holland (CNH) for the development of a customized combine solution for large-scale harvesting of castor, and collaboration with Embrapa for research of castor disease control practices.
About Evofuel Ltd.:
Evofuel is engaged in the development and commercialization of high yielding castor seeds as a cost-competitive, sustainable, and second-generation feedstock for the growing biofuel market and various industrial uses. It has built its castor genetic assets based on a broad collection of over 300 castor lines from over 40 different geographic and climatic regions. As part of its development process, Evofuel applies advanced breeding methods utilizing cutting-edge plant genomics capabilities together with agro-technique expertise to enable efficient and sustainable large-scale production of castor. Initially established in 2007 as a division within Evogene Ltd. (TASE:EVGN), Evofuel was spun out as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2012. For additional information, please visit Evofuel's website at: www.evo-fuel.com
About Evogene Ltd.:
Evogene (NYSE:EVGN) (TASE:EVGN) is a leading company for the improvement of crop productivity and economics for the food, feed and biofuel industries. The Company has strategic collaborations with world-leading agricultural companies to develop improved seed traits in relation to yield and a-biotic stress (such as tolerance to drought), and biotic stress (such as resistance to disease and nematodes), in key crops as corn, soybean, wheat and rice, and is also focused on the research and development of new products for crop protection (such as weed control). In addition, the Company has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Evofuel, developing seeds for second generation feedstock for biodiesel. For more information, please visit www.evogene.com and www.evo-fuel.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" relating to future events. These statements may be identified by words such as "may", "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "scheduled", "estimates" or words of similar meaning. Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions, describe opinions about future events, involve certain risks and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and are not guarantees of future performance. Therefore, actual future results, performance or achievements of Evogene may differ materially from what is expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, many of which beyond Evogene's control, including, without limitation, those risk factors contained in Evogene's reports filed with the appropriate securities authority. Evogene disclaims any obligation or commitment to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or developments or changes in expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions.