An historic tree from India is now thriving in groves the place citrus bushes as soon as flourished in Florida, and will assist present the nation with renewable power.
As massive components of the Sunshine State’s once-famous citrus business have all however dried up over the previous 20 years due to two deadly illnesses, greening and citrus canker, some farmers are turning to the pongamia tree, a climate-resilient tree with the potential to supply plant-based proteins and a sustainable biofuel.
For years, pongamia has been used for shade bushes, producing legumes — little brown beans — which are so bitter wild hogs gained’t even eat them.
However not like the orange and grapefruit bushes that lengthy occupied these rural Florida groves northwest of West Palm Seaside, pongamia bushes don’t want a lot consideration.
Pongamia bushes additionally don’t want fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or wet situations. They usually don’t require groups of employees to select the beans. A machine merely shakes the tiny beans from the branches when they’re prepared to reap.
Terviva, a San Francisco-based firm based in 2010 by Naveen Sikka, then makes use of its patented course of to take away the biopesticides that trigger the bitter style, making the beans appropriate for meals manufacturing.
“Florida offers a rare opportunity for both Terviva and former citrus farmers. The historical decline of the citrus industry has left farmers without a crop that can grow profitably on hundreds of thousands of acres, and there needs to be a very scalable replacement, very soon,” Sikka informed The Related Press. “Pongamia is the perfect fit.”
What’s the pongamia tree?
The pongamia is a wild tree native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia.
The legume is now getting used to supply a number of merchandise, together with Panova culinary oil and protein, that are featured ingredient in Aloha’s Kona protein bars. The corporate additionally makes protein flour.
The legumes additionally produce oil that can be utilized as a biofuel, largely for aviation, which leaves a really low carbon footprint, stated Ron Edwards, chairman of Terviva’s board of administrators and a long-time Florida citrus grower.
Turning a wild tree right into a home one hasn’t been simple, Edwards stated.
“There are no books to read on it, either, because no one else has ever done it,” he stated.
Bees and different pollinators feast on the pongamia’s flowers, supporting native biodiversity, Edwards stated. An acre of the bushes can doubtlessly present the identical quantity of oil as 4 acres of soy beans, he added.
What’s left after the oil is faraway from the pongamia bean is “a very high-grade protein that can be used as a substitute in baking and smoothies and all kinds of other plant-based protein products,” Edwards stated. “There’s a lot of potential for the food industry and the oil and petroleum industry.”
Why Florida?
“We know pongamia grows well in Florida, and the end markets for the oil and protein that come from the pongamia beans — biofuel, feed, and food ingredients — are enormous,” Sikka stated. “So farmers can now reduce their costs and more closely align to the leading edge of sustainable farming practices.”
At a nursery close to Fort Pierce, employees expert in pongamia grafting methods affix a portion of the mom tree to a pongamia rootstock, which ensures the genetics and desired traits of the mom tree are perpetuated in all of Terviva’s bushes.
Pongamia vs. citrus
Citrus had been Florida’s premier crop for years till illness caught up with it beginning within the Nineteen Nineties with citrus canker and later greening.
Citrus canker, a bacterial illness, is just not dangerous to people, nevertheless it causes lesions on the fruit, stems and leaves. Ultimately, it makes the bushes unproductive.
Citrus greening, also called Huanglongbing, slowly kills bushes and degrades the fruit, in accordance with the U.S. Division of Agriculture. Greening has unfold all through Florida since 2005, devastating numerous groves and decreasing citrus manufacturing by 75%. The illness has unfold to Louisiana, Texas and California.
Hurricane Ian brought about about $1.8 billion in damages to Florida’s agriculture in September 2023, hitting the citrus business at the start of its rising season.
Illness and local weather points have additionally affected many of the world’s high citrus-producing nations. For instance, this yr’s harvest in Brazil — the world’s largest exporter of orange juice — is forecast to be the worst in 36 years due to flooding and drought, in accordance with a forecast by Fundecitrus, a citrus growers’ group in Sao Paulo state.
However local weather and illness have little impact on pongamia bushes, the corporate’s officers stated.
“It’s just tough, a jungle-tested tree” Edwards stated. “It stands up to a lot of abuse with very little caretaking.”
Pongamia additionally grows effectively in Hawaii, the place it now thrives on land beforehand used for sugarcane.
What are citrus farmers saying?
John Olson, who owns Circle O Ranch, west of Fort Pierce, has changed his grapefruit groves with 215 acres (87.01 hectares) of pongamia bushes.
“We went through all the ups and downs of citrus and eventually because of greening, abandoned citrus production,” Olson stated. “For the most part, the citrus industry has died in Florida.”
Whereas the grapefruit grove was modest, it was frequent for a grove that measurement to be worthwhile within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, Olson stated.
Edwards stated farmers used numerous sprays to kill the insect that was spreading the illness. Ultimately, the price of taking good care of citrus bushes grew to become too dangerous.
That’s when he determined to go a special route.
“What attracted me to pongamia was the fact that one it can repurpose fallow land that was citrus and is now lying dormant,” he stated. “From an ecological point of view, it’s very attractive because it can replace some of the oils and vegetable proteins that are now being generated by things like palm oil, which is environmentally a much more damaging crop.”
What about biofuel?
In December 2023, Terviva signed an settlement with Mitsubishi Company to offer biofuel feedstock that may be transformed into biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation gasoline.
“Our partnership with Mitsubishi is off to a great start,” Sikka stated, noting that the corporate coordinates intently with Mitsubishi on tree plantings and product growth and gross sales. “Terviva’s progress has accelerated thanks to Mitsubishi’s expertise and leadership around the globe on all facets of Terviva’s business.”
What meals merchandise does pongamia produce?
The analysis is ongoing, however Edwards stated they’ve made actually good graham crackers along with the desk oil and different plant-based protein merchandise, together with flour and protein bars.
Pongamia presents a substitute for soybean and yellow pea protein “if you don’t want your protein to come from meat,” he stated.
