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One man is fighting to save Florida Oranges, w/o GMing them
....Snip...
"We are seeing the death of an industry in front of our eyes," Matt McLean says, scanning his groves. "These trees will not survive."
Worst of all, there is little McLean can do to save his crop.
Despite millions of dollars spent on research and hundreds of scientists working at a frenzied pace, no cure or prevention has yet been developed for citrus greening disease.
"We have survived a lot of things," McLean says, recalling deep freezes and other diseases like citrus canker that have wiped out thousands of trees. "But today, citrus greening has affected the entire state. We just don't know what will happen."
"But OJ, as you know it, may not exist anymore."
....McLean is not alone in his quest; researchers across the nation are using genetic material to figure out how to save American citrus. Others are busy preserving plant cuttings in a tundralike, tornado-proof vault in Colorado that could rebuild the nation's citrus groves if disease does indeed wipe them out.
...Matt's brother Ben has a master's degree in fruit crops and has been working furiously with industry colleagues, scientists and the government to find a way to stop citrus greening's spread. The disease flared west from Florida to Texas and it has now been found in groves in California, America's second largest citrus producer.
Scientists are developing bactericides and experimenting with tree treatments like heat therapy, says Michael Rogers, interim director of the University of Florida's Citrus Research and Education Center.
They are also breeding citrus that are tolerant to disease. About seven years ago, when citrus greening was starting its spread, a handful of Florida growers planted a new variety, LB8-9, as an experiment. Those trees are all infected now, but the amazing thing is they are still able to produce fruit, says Fred Gmitter, a citrus breeder and geneticist who works with Rogers.
...Some growers are considering using genetically modified strains of citrus, even though such artificial alterations remain highly controversial.
McLean won't go there. He remains resolute on finding a way to stop greening and is focusing on organic cures.
He has tried botanical oils like neem. And every 21 days, he releases thousands of parasitic wasps that lay eggs inside young Asian citrus psyllids, or nymphs. The eggs hatch and devour the nymphs' insides. The wasps can never eradicate citrus greening disease, but McLean says they provide some amount of control and management. The successes are modest compared to the rate at which citrus greening is killing McLean's trees.
Lately, McLean has had new reason to hope. The answer, he says, may be lurking in one of his grandfather's old orange groves.
When McLean announced he was going to start an organic business, his father chuckled.
"I graduated from UF in 1965. No one even knew how to spell herbicide then," Benny McLean laughs.
Father and son walk through one of their oldest orange groves, planted in 1944 on the southeast corner of a lake, which helped protect the trees through frigid winters. They are Temple oranges grown on Cleopatra Mandarin rootstock, known to thrive in Florida's sandy soil. The trees are lush with flavorful fruit.
"It's amazing that these trees have been here all these years," Benny McLean says. "You are looking at old genetic material. And this is all about the DNA and genetics. Old trees show a lot of resistance. Newer trees show high levels of susceptibility."
The older McLean has a theory about why not a single tree in this 2,000-strong grove has been infected with citrus greening disease even though across the highway, every tree is ailing.
He says this particular grove was not sprayed with chemicals until it was 25 years old and had already developed a strong immune system....
Really good read, worth the time~
http://www.kpax.com/story/30011027/the-big-squeeze-why-farmers-and-scientists-are-rushing-to-save-citrus
"We are seeing the death of an industry in front of our eyes," Matt McLean says, scanning his groves. "These trees will not survive."
Worst of all, there is little McLean can do to save his crop.
Despite millions of dollars spent on research and hundreds of scientists working at a frenzied pace, no cure or prevention has yet been developed for citrus greening disease.
"We have survived a lot of things," McLean says, recalling deep freezes and other diseases like citrus canker that have wiped out thousands of trees. "But today, citrus greening has affected the entire state. We just don't know what will happen."
"But OJ, as you know it, may not exist anymore."
....McLean is not alone in his quest; researchers across the nation are using genetic material to figure out how to save American citrus. Others are busy preserving plant cuttings in a tundralike, tornado-proof vault in Colorado that could rebuild the nation's citrus groves if disease does indeed wipe them out.
...Matt's brother Ben has a master's degree in fruit crops and has been working furiously with industry colleagues, scientists and the government to find a way to stop citrus greening's spread. The disease flared west from Florida to Texas and it has now been found in groves in California, America's second largest citrus producer.
Scientists are developing bactericides and experimenting with tree treatments like heat therapy, says Michael Rogers, interim director of the University of Florida's Citrus Research and Education Center.
They are also breeding citrus that are tolerant to disease. About seven years ago, when citrus greening was starting its spread, a handful of Florida growers planted a new variety, LB8-9, as an experiment. Those trees are all infected now, but the amazing thing is they are still able to produce fruit, says Fred Gmitter, a citrus breeder and geneticist who works with Rogers.
...Some growers are considering using genetically modified strains of citrus, even though such artificial alterations remain highly controversial.
McLean won't go there. He remains resolute on finding a way to stop greening and is focusing on organic cures.
He has tried botanical oils like neem. And every 21 days, he releases thousands of parasitic wasps that lay eggs inside young Asian citrus psyllids, or nymphs. The eggs hatch and devour the nymphs' insides. The wasps can never eradicate citrus greening disease, but McLean says they provide some amount of control and management. The successes are modest compared to the rate at which citrus greening is killing McLean's trees.
Lately, McLean has had new reason to hope. The answer, he says, may be lurking in one of his grandfather's old orange groves.
When McLean announced he was going to start an organic business, his father chuckled.
"I graduated from UF in 1965. No one even knew how to spell herbicide then," Benny McLean laughs.
Father and son walk through one of their oldest orange groves, planted in 1944 on the southeast corner of a lake, which helped protect the trees through frigid winters. They are Temple oranges grown on Cleopatra Mandarin rootstock, known to thrive in Florida's sandy soil. The trees are lush with flavorful fruit.
"It's amazing that these trees have been here all these years," Benny McLean says. "You are looking at old genetic material. And this is all about the DNA and genetics. Old trees show a lot of resistance. Newer trees show high levels of susceptibility."
The older McLean has a theory about why not a single tree in this 2,000-strong grove has been infected with citrus greening disease even though across the highway, every tree is ailing.
He says this particular grove was not sprayed with chemicals until it was 25 years old and had already developed a strong immune system....
Really good read, worth the time~
http://www.kpax.com/story/30011027/the-big-squeeze-why-farmers-and-scientists-are-rushing-to-save-citrus
Let's hope his theory is right! It wouldn't surprise me at all if the cause of orange greening is overuse of chemicals weakening their immunity to the bug. I hope going Organic can save oranges.
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
> Old trees show a lot of resistance. Newer trees show high levels of susceptibility.
>
> ... this particular grove was not sprayed with chemicals until it was 25 years old
> and had already developed a strong immune system....
This makes me wonder about other rapidly increasing issues amongst immature
and simply younger creatures (e.g., autism, allergies, ADHD, etc.) ...?
kids raised in super clean environments are sicker later in life than kids who battle it out in the dirt. If you get my drift. 
I know this from my huge extended family and how the kids are/were raised and their problems today, in some cases years later.
> kids raised in super clean environments are sicker later in life than kids who battle it out in the dirt.
