An ancient tree from India is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida, and could help provide the nation with renewable energy.
Young pongamia trees grow in a grove in St. Lucie County, Fla., Thursday, June 6, 2024. The ancient tree, native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia, is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida. The tree produces a legume that can be processed into plant-based protein and sustainable biofuel.
Pongamia trees also don’t need fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or rainy conditions. And they don’t require teams of workers to pick the beans. A machine simply shakes the tiny beans from the branches when they’re ready to harvest. The legumes also produce oil that can be used as a biofuel, largely for aviation, which leaves a very low carbon footprint, said Ron Edwards, chairman of Terviva's board of directors and a long-time Florida citrus grower.“There are no books to read on it, either, because no one else has ever done it,” he said.
At a nursery near Fort Pierce, workers skilled in pongamia grafting techniques affix a portion of the mother tree to a pongamia rootstock, which ensures the genetics and desired characteristics of the mother tree are perpetuated in all of Terviva's trees.Citrus had been Florida's premier crop for years until disease caught up with it starting in the 1990s with citrus canker and later greening.
in Brazil — the world’s largest exporter of orange juice — is forecast to be the worst in 36 years due to flooding and drought, according to a forecast by Fundecitrus, a citrus growers’ organization in Sao Paulo state.“It’s just tough, a jungle-tested tree” Edwards said. “It stands up to a lot of abuse with very little caretaking."What are citrus farmers saying?
While the grapefruit grove was modest, it was common for a grove that size to be profitable in the 1980s and 1990s, Olson said.
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