Unlike corn or switchgrass sugarcane can be crossed with different species such as sorghum to create new plants with traits that are competitive with corn for producing biofuels.. An increased demand on corn for animal feed is being reflected in higher food prices putting corn at a disadvantage as a sustainable feedstock for biofuel production. By crossing sugarcane with other species of plants using a process called “wide hybridization” scientists end up with a sugarcane-based plant with a biomass that is nine times more efficient at producing ethanol than corn. Scientists at Texas A&M are working on creating sugarcane-based plants that are tolerant of cold and drought, and are resistant to insects and disease making then able to be grown outside the tropics. To read more about the work being done at Texas A&M using sugarcane, wide hybridization, and micropropagation to create a biofuel feedstock that is competitive with corn (including a video):
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