E-Mail IMAGE: CABBI's Fredy Altpeter, Professor of Agronomy at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, evaluates field-grown genetically modified sugarcane (oilcane) at the UF/IFAS Plant Science Research Unit.... view more Credit: Amy Stuart, UF/IFAS Sugarcane is one of the most productive plants on Earth, providing 80 percent of the sugar and 30 percent of the bioethanol produced worldwide. Its size and efficient use of water and light give it tremendous potential for the production of renewable value-added bioproducts and biofuels. But the highly complex sugarcane genome poses challenges for conventional breeding, requiring more than a decade of trials for the development of an improved cultivar.