Guayule named Crop of the Week
The Yuma Sun in Arizona named guayule the “Crop of the Week” for the week of October 16-22, 2010. Native to the deserts of the U.S. Southwest, the guayule shrub is a commercial crop that produces a domestic source of rubber. The Yuma Sun estimates that the amount of guayule being grown in Yuma is between 50-100 acres.
More than 150 miles east of Yuma sits Maricopa, the guayule capital of Arizona where far more guayule is grown and home to Yulex Corporation’s guayule processing plant. Last year, the Arizona Technology Council presented Yulex Corporation with the state’s Green Innovator of the Year award for its work bringing safe and sustainable guayule products to market.
The Yuma Sun reports that guayule was chosen as its “Crop of the Week” for its sustainability, versatility and significance as a new industrial crop. Out of more than 2,000 species of plants known to produce rubber, guayule is the only domestic rubber-producing plant used for latex production on a commercial scale. Not only is guayule a renewable industrial crop and produced without toxic solvents, but guayule-based products typically outperform petro-based products, yet, unlike plastics or synthetics, are still biodegradable. Guayule is also free of the proteins that cause reactions in those with a latex allergy and has been used in an assortment of consumer, healthcare and industrial products to prevent Type I and Type IV allergic reactions.
Scientists are also researching uses for the majority of the guayule shrub that remains after rubber extraction. The byproduct of latex extraction, bagasse, could generate energy equivalent to that produced from coal and other guayule fibers could be used as a natural, antifungal pesticide.
To learn more about guayule and its potential uses go to www.yulex.com and to read more about guayule becoming the “Crop of the Week,” click here.
