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Cooperative Research and Development Agreements
...With Union Camp Corp. of Wayne, NJ, to develop ways to use an ARS
product as a low-cost, environmentally friendly ingredient in adhesives,
insulation, plywood, particle board and box board. The ARS product,
Fantesk, is a mixture that can be made from a variety of starches and
vegetable oils. Fantesk can be formed into adhesives that may partially
replace more expensive and less environmentally friendly materials such as
urea-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehydes used in manufacturing particle
board and plywood. Researchers will also explore potential use of Fantesk
in water-based paints and coatings for paper, box board and plant
seedlings.
ARS Contact: Kenneth Eskins, National
Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL, (309)
681-6566
...With PhotoDye International, Inc., Linthicum, MD, to develop precise
formulations for a bait to mix with dye that kills Mediterranean and
Mexican fruit flies and related pests. PhotoDye holds rights to use
some dyes as sun-activated, environmentally friendly insecticides. ARS
scientists have demonstrated that a red dye kills Mediterranean and
Mexican fruit flies soon after they eat it and are exposed to sunlight.
The dye--used in some popular stomach antacids--is rated safe for humans
by the Food and Drug Administration. Under two CRADAs, ARS researchers
will pinpoint the best combination of bait, dye concentration and other
ingredients to attract each fly species and stimulate them to feed on the
dye. The Medfly attacks more than 300 different fruits and vegetables and
is among the world's worst agricultural pests. Crops in California,
Arizona, Texas, and Florida are particularly vulnerable to medflies that
hitchhike to the U.S. mainland in smuggled produce. The Mexican fruit fly
chronically threatens citrus orchards in Texas and occasionally invades
California orchards as well.
ARS contacts: Nicanor J. Liquido, Tropical Fruit and Vegetable Research
Laboratory, Hilo, HI, (808) 959-4334; Robert L. Mangan, Subtropical Agricultural Research
Laboratory, Weslaco, TX, (210) 565-2647
...With Alpha Food Ingredients of Evanston, IL, to evaluate new edible
coatings for fruit products made from pureed fruit. ARS scientists
are developing a process that combines pureed apricots, pears and peaches
with various gelling agents, such as starch, to form tasty fruit pieces.
The coating will help the fruit pieces stay moist and last longer. The
goal is to increase consumers' fruit consumption by using restructured
fruit pieces as ingredients in ice cream, baked goods or other products,
or as alternatives to candy. By pureeing perishable fruit at harvest
time, fruit pieces can be produced throughout the year. Alpha Foods
licensed technology from Argonne National Laboratories to apply the novel
high-molecular-weight polylactic acid coating to foods. ARS scientists
are determining the barrier properties of these novel coatings and
investigating the effects of the coatings on the color, texture and
shelf-life of the fruit products.
ARS Contact: Tara McHugh, Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA,
(510) 559-5864
...With Natural Fibers Corp., Ogallala, NE, to create a filler material
for comforters using a non-woven blend of wool or cotton and milkweed
floss. The company has used a floss and down blend as filling, but
would like to expand its consumer base by offering both the down blend and
a more inexpensive product. A problem: The milkweed floss is delicate
and breaks down during mechanical production. Down-blend material is
merely blown into the comforter's outer shell so fiber breakage is not an
issue. ARS researchers found that using cotton or wool strengthens the
floss and makes it possible to produce the non-woven product.
ARS Contact: Weiying Tao, Textile
Engineering Research Unit, New Orleans, LA, (504) 286-4540
...With Patchen California, Inc. of Los Gatos, CA, to develop
sensor-controlled herbicide sprayers to combat weeds that sprout between
rows of crops such as soybeans, corn and cotton. ARS scientists
treated soybean fields using sensor technology developed by Patchen for
use in orchards and vineyards. The sprayer only releases chemicals when
its sensors detect weeds. Field studies in 1995 showed the sprayer cut
chemical use 50 to 85 percent while providing good weed control. In 1996,
researchers will test the technology on cotton and re-evaluate its use on
soybeans.
ARS Contact: James E. Hanks, Application and
Production Technology Research, Stoneville, MS, (601) 686-5382
...With Strauch and Sons, Inc., of Bethesda, MD, to test a device that
sprays low levels of insecticides under plant leaves where damaging
whiteflies feed. Insecticide applicators generally don't reach under
leaves--one reason that the sweetpotato whitefly (B strain), Bemisia
argentifolii, has spread and damaged vegetable crops across the United
States. Strauch's new sprayer disperses a fine mist that reaches under
leaves to kill feeding whiteflies. ARS will initially test the fogger in
greenhouse studies using insecticides and new, ARS-developed natural
products, called sugar esters, against whiteflies. These sugar esters,
derived from tobacco leaves, break down the insect's outer shell, causing
the pest to shrivel as it loses water. If the greenhouse tests are
successful, field studies will begin later this year.
ARS Contact: Alvin M. Simmons, U.S.
Vegetable Laboratory, Charleston, SC, (803) 556-0840
...With DNA Plant Technology Corporation (DNAP) of Oakland, CA, to
field test tomatoes grown from tissue culture. ARS scientists
developed technology that can enhance sweetness, increase meatiness and
extend the shelf life of fresh-market tomatoes. DNAP researchers will
evaluate the consumer appeal, genetic stability and storage
characteristics of the tomatoes. DNAP will also cross ARS lines with
their own varieties to further improve commercial potential. These
hybrids should greatly reduce production costs, maintain quality during
handling and shipping and extend the fruit's shelf life.
ARS Contact: George Robertson, Western Regional Research Center, Albany,
CA, (510) 559-5866
...With ICI Seeds, of Slater, IA, to determine how quickly European
corn borers may become resistant to a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
toxin in transgenic corn. Scientists are concerned that borers
surviving the Bt-bearing corn could become the forefathers of tomorrow's
resistant insects. In the laboratory, researchers will monitor insects
for Bt-toxin resistance for at least six generations and try to develop
resistance management strategies.
ARS Contact: Leslie C. Lewis, Corn Insects Research, Ames, IA, (515)
294-8614
Last updated: October 28, 1996
Return to: Quarterly Report
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