Chinese breed new rapeseed with high oil content.(biodiesel industry)(Brief article)

Agra Europe, September, 2006

Chinese scientists have bred a new strain of rapeseed with higher oil content in a move to develop the country's biodiesel industry, the official Xinhua news agency said this week.

China is building biodiesel production facilities to use rapeseed and oil-bearing trees as raw materials to reduce its reliance on imported crude oil.

Beijing has plans to use biofuel, including ethanol, to replace two million tonnes of crude oil by 2010.

The oil content in the new strain, Zhongyou-0361, at 54.72%, surpasses the strain with the previous record oil content by nearly 2%, Xinhua said on Monday, citing the agriculture ministry.

It said the new strain, developed by the Institute of Oil Crops Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural...

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