Crops

Developing a thriving soybean market in Africa doesn’t just represent a new crop in the rotation for smallholder farmers — it builds an entire ecosystem of seed companies, processors, and trade partners ready to enter the global soybean market.

Thanks to research breakthroughs by CABBI’s internationally known miscanthus experts and geneticists, this unique plant is poised to be a game-changer on the bioenergy front — and beyond.

When Chris Mujjabi found an envelope marked ‘Kitale Synthetic’ in a cold storage room at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the corn breeder knew he had stumbled on something special.

Looking for a family-friendly event this weekend? Check out the fourth annual Crop Sciences Harvest Open House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Crop Sciences Research and Education Center south of campus.  

In collaboration with other Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs), researchers at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) are developing industrially feasible techniques for second-generation biofuel production from oilcane, an oil-rich variety of sugarcane, to help meet our growing societal demand for fuels.

Malawi’s Lower Shire Valley is changing.

The Sustainable Student Farm (SSF) is a cornerstone of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Small grains researcher Juan David Arbelaez-Velez knows the secret to making perfect rice — and it’s not about how you cook it. Arbelaez and his team are investigating the genetic blueprint that determines different grain attributes such as appearance, cooking time, and texture.

When most growers plant corn, they expect perfect, uniform rows and plump and pearly yellow kernels lining the cob. But a group of USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists intentionally plant the misfits — some gnarled and speckled, others sprouting tassels where ears should be — to perpetuate the wide array of genetic variation in the Midwest’s most economically important crop. 

While the majority of Midwestern farmers rotate corn and soybeans, commodity prices and corn yield advantages compel some to plant corn year after year.