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EPA Approves Experimental Use Permit Of Spinach Trait To Fight Greening

Frank Giles Posted by Frank Giles|May 8, 2015

In a landmark step in the fight against the disease (also known as HLB), the EPA has approved Southern Gardens Citrus’ (SGC) application for an Experimental Use Permit (EUP) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. SGC, headquartered in Hendry County, FL, is one of the largest citrus producers in the state. All three of its Southwest Florida groves infected with HLB. Over the last several years, SGC has worked to find an efficient and effective solution to this very serious disease.

The EPA granted the new Experimental Use Permit to SGC on April 30. The EUP authorizes large scale tests of citrus plants containing the protein derived from spinach, which SGC has developed through a research program with Texas A&M University.

Transgenic trees (right) have performed well vs. non-transgenic trees in Southern Gardens Citrus field trials. Photo courtesy of Southern Gardens

Transgenic trees (right) have performed well vs. non-transgenic trees in Southern Gardens Citrus field trials.
Photo courtesy of Southern Gardens

Consistent with the conditions established by the EPA, SGC may now move forward with field tests to evaluate the efficacy of the spinach protein against HLB in citrus plant tissues and continue generating the environmental, health, and safety data that are required under federal law to support a fully registered product for commercial use. On the basis of SGC’s related petition, EPA also concluded that residues of the spinach protein in citrus are safe for the public, and established a temporary allowance (known as a tolerance exemption) to cover this.

Ricke Kress, president of Southern Gardens Citrus, states that “since this disease was first detected in the company’s groves in 2005, the immediate decision was to become as proactive as possible to learn about the disease and at the same time, develop methods and procedures to deal with the disease on a day-to-day basis. The company directed a research focus toward spinach because it is already safely consumed daily and should be more favorably received by consumers. It is important to state that as all U.S. regulatory controlled field trials and evaluations are on-going, there is no citrus fruit or juice product from the tests in the commercial product market today.”

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Kress notes that a final solution to eliminating this disease may still take some years, but the latest EPA action and continuation of all research projects are major steps in the right direction.

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Giles is editor of Florida Grower, a Meister Media Worldwide publication. See all author stories here.

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Avatar for Matt Matt says:
May 8, 2015 at 11:23 am

Interesting that the article did not point out that this will technically be GMO citrus. In other articles there has been talk about using this as rootstock only and grafting conventional varieties which would be non-gmo. It will be interesting to see of consumers are willing to accept GMO citrus.

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Avatar for Reilly H. Reilly H. says:
May 8, 2015 at 7:33 pm

The GMO subject is truly a misunderstood issue at the current time. Government studies continue to show that GMOs are safe and in the present and near future, a solution to evolving vectors worldwide. When this tree becomes available to citrus growers like myself we will be eternally thankful. Greening is without a doubt the worst disease we have ever dealt with. Although we have made some progress in slowing the disease down, it still continues to overall move the quality and production of OJ in the state of FL downward. Growers expect an intial backlash against these trees becoming sources of OJ but in the end believe the public (consumer) will come around. Once we can produce greening free OJ, we can then lower our production costs and in turn lower the carton price as well.

From the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):
“The science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe … The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society, and every other respected organization that has examined the evidence has come to the same conclusion: consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques.”

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Avatar for Ran Newman Ran Newman says:
May 20, 2015 at 8:29 am

I absolutely believe that the public will quickly accept G M O O J ….those of us who can think clearly and objectively understand that after eating it for 30 years with no proven ill effect to any human anywhere , it must be safe , and for sure is needed to feed the world

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Avatar for Andy A Andy A says:
May 11, 2015 at 9:50 am

If they are just issuing the permits, then how were the trees in the photo grown?

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Avatar for Frank Giles Frank Giles says:
May 11, 2015 at 10:34 am

Hi Andy, Those trees were grown under strict regulation from state and federal agencies. This approval is just another step in the long process of getting such a technology fully approved. Check out the link in the first paragraph for a cover story we did on a GMO citrus tree recently.

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Avatar for Dale G Dale G says:
May 12, 2015 at 11:50 am

When is someone (EPA, Growers, State or National Govt.) even local county extension offices going to start educating people on the truth of GMO’s. Seems the loud uninformed are ruling the press and social media scaring people with their false hyperbole? Science isn’t a consensus.

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Avatar for Paul Pugliese Paul Pugliese says:
May 16, 2015 at 10:56 am

I’m an Extension agent in Georgia and am working with a team of agents to address this very issue on educating the public about the science and facts behind the benefits of Genetic Engineering. This is definitely the kind of education and public outreach we need to be doing right now for both adults and children, the next generation of consumers.

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Avatar for Bubba Bubba says:
May 19, 2015 at 9:11 am

Tell that to the man-made global climate changers…

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Avatar for ELLEN C. ELLEN C. says:
May 18, 2015 at 8:51 am

In an article on the NPR web site last week I was surprised to learn that there are natural GMO’s here is a quote for the article”The first genetically modified crop wasn’t made by a megacorporation. Or a college scientist trying to design a more durable tomato. Nope. Nature did it — at least 8,000 years ago. apparently sweet potatoes have had genes spliced into them by a bacteria Scientists at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, have found genes from bacteria in 291 sweet potato varieties, including ones grown in the U.S., Indonesia, China, parts of South America and Africa. The findings suggest bacteria inserted the genes into the crop’s wild ancestor, long before humans started cooking up sweet potato fries.” This is side by side on the web next to an article where a farmer declares he will not eat what he grows because it is a GMO but has no regrets about selling it to others! I wonder what ethics he harbors if he truly thinks he’s growing poison but continues to do so. I’m sure the flat earth folks thought the same about immunizations, medical x-rays, frozen food, microwaved food, test tube babies and on and on infinitum.

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