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Citrograph
November/December 2012
Citrograph
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Citrograph
NOVEMBER/dECEMBER 2012 • Volume 3 • Number 6
Cover photo by CRB Communications
Specialist Teresa Ferguson
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An Official Publication of the Citrus Research Board
IN THIS ISSUE
4 Editorial
6 Psyllid Detection Map
8 Inaugural California Citrus Conference
10 Profile: Living the American dream…
16 A ‘Thank You’ note to Charlie Coggins
26 Part I - Citrus leprosis viruses and their
known Brevipalpus mite vector
32 Development of next-generation
technologies for the diagnosis and
identification of citrus viruses and
viroids
36 Use of phosphite salts in laboratory
and semi-commercial tests to control
citrus postharvest decay
42 Citrus Roots: First Commercial Three-
Phase Power Plant
50 Salter Award goes to IPM researcher
Joseph Morse
51 Celebrating Citrus
Citrograph is published bimonthly by the Citrus Research Board, 217 N. Encina, Visalia, CA 93291. Citrograph is sent to all
California citrus producers courtesy of the Citrus Research Board. If you are currently receiving multiple copies, or would like
to make a change in your Citrograph subscription, please contact the publication office (above, left).
Every effort is made to ensure accuracy in articles published by Citrograph; however, the publishers assume no responsibility
for losses sustained, allegedly resulting from following recommendations in this magazine. Consult your local authorities.
The Citrus Research Board has not tested any of the products advertised in this publication, nor has it verified any of the
statements made in any of the advertisements. The Board does not warrant, expressly or implicitly, the fitness of any product
advertised or the suitability of any advice or statements contained herein.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 3

EDITORIAL
BY TED A. BATKIN, President, Citrus Research Board
Recruitment notice for CRB President…
It is an opportunity
to provide leadership
and direction to the
California citrus
growers in the technical
areas of production and
pest management.
4 Citrograph November/December 2012
By now, many of you know that I will be retiring from the Citrus
Research Board on September 30, 2013. I wanted to take
this opportunity to do a little recruiting for candidates to fill
the position. The Board is actively seeking applicants from
now through December 31, 2012.
From my perspective over the past 20 years, this job is one of the
most exciting professions that anyone could imagine. It is an opportunity
to provide leadership and direction to the California citrus growers in
the technical areas of production and pest management.
The scope of the California Citrus Research Program (as the CRB
is officially titled) is quite wide and includes everything from financial
oversight and funding, to the California Citrus Quality Council, to production
research and operational activities in support of the Citrus Pest
and Disease Prevention Committee. The program also provides guidance
and funding to the Citrus Clonal Protection Program in cooperation
with UC Riverside.
The two main platforms of the CRB program are funding contract
research projects through a Request for Proposals process and providing
operational support to the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program.
Research has been the foundation of the CRB over the past 45 years
and continues to be the main focus of the Board. Currently, CRB funds
over $4,700,000 in research projects with the majority of the funds dedicated
to the fight against the Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing disease.
The Program works closely with Florida and Texas in this battle to
keep the United States citrus industry strong and viable. The California
contribution to the process is focused on early detection systems to
(1) find the psyllid to reduce the ACP populations and (2) locate trees
infected with the HLB-associated bacteria early enough to prevent
the spread of the disease.
The Operational functions of the program are to support the
Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program. They include the
management tracking of the ACP trapping program conducted by
CDFA in commercial groves, providing oversight and support to
the Regional Field Coordinators in the various parts of the state,
and operating an HLB analysis laboratory in Riverside. In addition
to these responsibilities, the CRB also provides support to the
Biological Control Development Program which is a joint agency
committee of USDA, CDFA, University of California, and industry representatives.
More information on the Program can be found at the CRB website:
www.citrusresearch.org. This is a wonderful opportunity for someone interested
in an exciting career. I know that I have thoroughly enjoyed the
past 20 years. l

The Mission of the Citrus Research Board:
Develop knowledge and build systems for grower vitality.
Focus on quality assurance, clonal protection, production research,
variety development, and grower/public education.
CITRUS RESEARCH BOARD MEMBER LIST BY DISTRICT 2012-2013
District 1 – Northern California
Member
Alternate
Allan Lombardi, Exeter Justin Brown, Orange Cove
Donald Roark, Lindsay Dan Dreyer, Exeter
Jim Gorden, Exeter
Dan Galbraith, Porterville
Joe Stewart, Bakersfield Franco Bernardi, Visalia
Etienne Rabe, Bakersfield John Konda, Terra Bella
John Richardson, Porterville Jeff Steen, Strathmore
Kevin Olsen, Pinedale Tommy Elliott, Visalia
Richard Bennett, Visalia Dennis Laux, Porterville
District 2 – Southern California – Coastal
Member
Alternate
Earl Rutz, Pauma Valley Alan Washburn, Riverside
Joe Barcinas, Riverside John C. Gless, Riverside
District 3 – California Desert
Member
Mark McBroom, Calipatria
Public Member
Member
Ed Civerolo, Kingsburg
Alternate
Craig Armstrong, Thermal
Alternate
Steve Garnsey, Fallbrook
Citrus Research Board
217 N Encina, Visalia, CA 93291
PO Box 230, Visalia, CA 93279
(559) 738-0246
FAX (559) 738-0607
E-Mail Info@citrusresearch.org
CALENDAR
January 23-25
January 23
January 31
February 4-7
February 12-14
March 7
CRB New Technologies Conference
– San Diego
CRB Board Meeting – San Diego
UCR Citrus Day – Riverside
3rd International Research Conference
on Huanglongbing – Orlando, Florida
World Ag Expo, International Agri-Center
– Tulare
CCM Showcase, Visalia Convention Center
– Visalia
For more information on the above, contact the CRB office at
(559) 738-0246.
DO YOU KNOW...
You would be amazed at the results of an online
search for “oranges in Christmas stocking”.
Have you heard of a legend involving gold coins
(Go to page 15 for the answer.)
November/December 2012 Citrograph 5

USDA urges Californians “Don’t Go Green” this holiday season
On December 3rd, USDA launched
a new effort to raise Californians’ awareness
about the threat of citrus greening
disease, also known as huanglongbing
(HLB). Californians in Los Angeles and
Orange counties will see mobile advertisements
in English and Spanish proclaiming
“Don’t Go Green!” because
“Greening Disease (HLB) Kills Citrus
Trees.”
Citrus tree owners are encouraged
to “Learn, Check, Report” suspected
citrus diseases. “Through the holidays,
Californians like to share their homegrown
lemons, oranges or tangerines
with friends and family,” says Larry
Hawkins, USDA’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
spokesman for the Save Our Citrus program.
“However, enjoying homegrown
citrus at home is the best way to prevent
the spread of citrus diseases.”
Go to the Save Our Citrus website, www.saveourcitrus.org, for tools to “Learn,
Check, Report” citrus diseases including the free Save Our Citrus iPhone App.
Map of Asian citrus psyllid detections in California and neighboring portions of Arizona and Mexico through November 29, 2012.
6 Citrograph November/December 2012

Inaugural
California
Citrus
Conference
The Expo Building at the Porterville Fairgrounds was nearly filled to capacity
for the ACP/HLB sessions on opening day of the California Citrus Conference.
A major draw was keynote speaker Ricke Kress, CEO of Southern Gardens Citrus,
who gave a first-hand account of Florida’s experience with huanglongbing
disease.
Over two days of programming, conference attendees could choose from a
schedule offering more than 40 presentations in total, plus 79 exhibits and a
spray rodeo. The event, held October 10 and 11, was presented by the Citrus
Research Board with major support from industry suppliers.
Gold sponsors were Farmers Tractor & Equipment Company, Bayer Crop Science,
American AgCredit, CoBank, Farm Credit West, Syngenta, Bank of the
Sierra, Limoneira, PG&E, and Duarte Trees & Vines. Silver sponsors were Jain
Irrigation, Inc. and Ferroxx. Bronze sponsors were Yara North America, SQM,
S&J Ranch, JBT FoodTech, and Duda Farm Fresh Foods.
Photos by CRB Communications Specialist Teresa Ferguson.
8 Citrograph November/December 2012

November/December 2012 Citrograph 9

Profile
Living the American dream…
Anne Warring
‘‘In Sicily, the year was 1914, and Philip LoBue was young, strong, and filled with
dreams of traveling to a new land called America. The word was out that America
was wide open, a place filled with rich land and opportunity for anyone with
the courage to take a journey half way around the world.
“Soon Philip and his family set sail on a passenger ship filled with Italian immigrants
headed for America. After what seemed like an endless journey at sea, the excitement
swelled within him as he first sighted the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
The LoBue family had finally made it. Now the work of becoming acclimated began.”
– from “LoBue Bros., A True American Success Story” published in 2009 for
the company’s 75th anniversary.
With two young children in tow and
a baby on the way, Filipo and Vincenza
LoBue – Philip and Virginia, as they
would be known in America – chose
to start their new life in California, in
the Bay Area, where Philip found work
with the railroad and on the weekends
sold produce door-to-door.
By 1927, the family, which by then
included sons Mario, Fred, and Joe and
daughter Josephine, had enough money
set aside to afford a small house and
10 acres on the outskirts of San Jose.
Philip planted cherries and, while waiting
for the trees to mature, grew vegetables
and prickly pears between the
rows. He built a small packing shed on
the property and trucked his crops to
the wholesale markets in San Francisco
and San Jose.
It was on those trips to the produce
terminals that he noticed something,
and it started him thinking about other
possibilities. Good quality oranges
were bringing very good prices. He had
always loved citrus and knew a little
something about it because back home
in Italy his family had grown pummelos
on the slopes of northern Sicily. The
rinds were shipped to England to be
used in making marmalade.
And so, in 1934 he began exploring
the idea of purchasing an orange grove.
He approached his banker at the Bank
of Italy (later Bank of America) about
the possibility of buying an orchard in
Southern California, but he was told
that he wouldn’t have to move that far
because there was acreage for sale in
the San Joaquin Valley.
The banker put him in touch with
a colleague at the branch in Tulare
which happened to have several repossessed
properties on the books.
One of them was a 40-acre ranch, with
a house, just east of Lindsay-Strathmore.
It could be had, he was told, for
$6,000 to bring the loan current and
take over the payments.
As Philip’s grandson Fred Jr. tells
the story today, “It was fall, and the
crop was ready to harvest. The returns
for the navel crop were enough to recoup
his down payment and still have
money left to farm the property for the
next season.”
But almost immediately, things
took a turn. Philip developed health
problems that were so debilitating he
could no longer handle the physical
labor of farming. And so it fell to his
two older sons, Mario and Fred, to take
Italian immigrants Vincenza (Virginia)
and Filipo (Philip) LoBue.
Cherry and vegetable grower Philip LoBue, his wife, Virginia, and their four
children at their home in San Jose circa 1927.
10 Citrograph November/December 2012

over the ranch. Mario, or Monty as he
was called, was 22 at the time, Fred was
only 20, and Joe was 16.
In short order they faced a problem
that was all-too-common in those
days, falling victim to unscrupulous
dealers. In 1938, after having been defrauded
for the second time, Philip told
his sons that if they could get the fruit
packed he would sell it at those same
terminal markets where he had moved
his other crops.
Today’s co-owners of the LoBue enterprises. Front row, Chairman Fred P. LoBue,
Jr. at left and President Philip R. LoBue. Back row, left to right: LoBue Farms
General Manager Robert S. LoBue, Vice President and marketing consultant Ron
Lacey, and Vice President of Export Marketing Joe LoBue, Jr.
Controlling their destiny
So, the brothers bought some used
equipment and put up a small packing
shed on the ranch. Fred did the farming
and Monty handled sales from his tiny
“half office” as Fred Jr. remembers it.
Several seasons passed and, as
recounted in a video on the LoBue
Citrus website, “The venture proved
a huge success, and soon neighboring
citrus growers asked if the brothers
would pack their fruit as well. Thus
was born the LoBue Brothers packing
enterprise.”
What had started out simply as a
means of controlling their own destiny
by packing and selling their own fruit
had unexpectedly become something
more. Of course, at the outset it was all
on a very small scale as they handled
one grower’s 10 acres of oranges and
another’s 5 acres, and so on.
By the early 1940s, they had outgrown
the shed and decided to construct
a full-fledged packinghouse
along the railroad tracks in Lindsay.
The project was delayed by the materials
shortage during the war, but in 1946
they completed a plant that was stateof-the
art.
The division of labor had Mario
(Monty) managing the packinghouse,
Fred doing the farming, and Joe shuttling
back and forth.
Again quoting from the video,
“Through the 50s, 60s, and 70s, as orange
groves were being pulled out in Southern
California to make way for houses,
growers were migrating into the Valley,
planting vast acreages of citrus. The
LoBues were in the right place at the
right time to capitalize on that growth.”
As the years went by, they steadily
added to their grower base, and on the
occasion of the company’s 50th anniversary
in 1984, they celebrated their
standing at the time as the largest independent
orange packing company in
Central California.
A near-foreclosure, then a fire
It’s important to note that they
faced major setbacks more than once.
Fred Sr. at the “home ranch” on a tractor that, of course,
hasn’t been used for many, many years but still runs.
Fred Sr. and Joe Sr. building a small shed to pack their own
fruit.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 11

In 1948, their new packinghouse was almost
foreclosed on after back-to-back
freezes, but the bank stayed with them.
Then 20 years later, in December of
1968, their packing facility, which had
been totally revamped and modernized
was gutted by fire just weeks after the
work was done. They built it again from
the ground up, and it was ready to go
by the next December.
In 1980, they bought the Lindsay
Groves packinghouse; eight years later,
their 1969 packinghouse on S. Sweet
Brier in Lindsay was thoroughly updated;
and in 2000, they purchased the
former Earlibest house in Exeter.
Today, they pack and sell for some
130 growers with their total
annual volume averaging
around 3.5 million field cartons.
Their LoBue fruit, grown
for their own account, represents
about 20% of the overall
volume.
On the farming side, their
history is one of gradually
adding to their holdings. Soon
after the three brothers started
farming that first 40 acres
for their father Philip, the
family started buying a block
here and a block there, then purchased
160 acres in Ivanhoe plus another 20
next to it, and then in Strathmore they
bought 160 and another 77.
Today, after nearly 80 years’ of
development, they farm nearly 1,000
acres in total, which is a little more
than double what they had 30 years ago
when the third generation took over.
Most of it is in Tulare County, but they
also farm 96 acres in Fresno County.
Since 1958, the two sides of the
business have been separate legal entities
– LoBue Farms, Inc. and LoBue
Bros, Inc., the latter doing business
today as LoBue Citrus. The five family
members – brothers, cousins and
brother-in-law – who are now the coowners
are board members and partners
in both companies.
They are also directors of a wholly
owned affiliated company, Sun Rapt
Foods, which takes products grade fruit
on consignment, arranges to have it
processed, and then sells concentrate
and not-from-concentrate juice on
the open market. Additionally, they
are part owners of Harvest Container
Company, a carton manufacturing operation
in Lindsay.
The “seniors” Fred, Mario (Monty) and Joe.
The “who’s who” of this team:
• Fred P. LoBue, Jr., son of cofounder
Fred. Now semi-retired, he is
Chairman of the Board and a paid consultant.
Officially, he began working at
LoBue Bros. as an accounting assistant
in 1962 and, except for two years in the
Army, he has been there ever since.
Unofficially, he started much earlier.
“When I was a kid,” he says, “my dad
would come down here to do something
in the packinghouse and I would sit in
the office and say ‘let me type that invoice’.
I did other things too, of course,
sweeping up in the plant and throwing
boxes, and when I was old enough to
really work I did titrating on the weekends.
But I would always rather be in
the office doing paperwork.”
Fred says he never doubted that
doing administrative work at LoBue
was exactly what he wanted to do, and
he took a course of study in business
management at San Jose State that
would give him what he needed for the
job. For a period of time, he ran the office
single-handedly – bookkeeping,
insurance, human resources -- because
there wasn’t enough volume to afford
to add staff. In 1996, when Mario
LoBue passed away, Fred was named
president and chief financial officer.
• Philip R. LoBue, eldest son of cofounder
Mario. Philip graduated from
UC Davis in 1970 with a degree in ag
business management and from there
went to North Carolina State to get a
Master’s in economics. He then immediately
joined the staff at LoBue Bros.,
working as the packing boss for a year
before being asked in 1972 to help start
their new processing plant (now California
Citrus Producers, Inc.). He was
vice president and general manager
of CCPI and worked there for almost
30 years.
When LoBue Bros. general manager
G. A. Wollenman passed away in
1999, Philip took over operations and
is now the company’s president and
CEO.
• Robert S. LoBue, son of cofounder
Mario. Robert has been general
manager of LoBue Farms since
1980, overseeing every aspect of farm
management including acquisition and
development.
After graduating from UC Davis
in 1973 with a degree in ag business
management, Robert chose to work
outside the family businesses for a
time, becoming an appraiser and loan
officer for the Federal Land Bank. In
1997, he joined LoBue “not knowing
at first exactly what I would be
doing,” he says, “so I started in
the packinghouse.” Within a
year, Fred Sr. suffered a heart
attack so Robert took over the
farming.
• Joe LoBue, Jr., son of
co-founder Joe. Immediately
after college, Joe also took a
brief time off from the family
business, opting to travel
in Europe for several months
before settling down to work.
With a degree in fruit industries
from Cal Poly Pomona, he started
in the packinghouse in packing and
shipping – serving as supervisor of both
functions – before moving to sales.
In 1974, he became the company’s
sole sales representative and then, in
the late 70s, he began focusing on the
development of export markets, Japan
in particular. Today, Joe supervises the
sales staff as director of marketing and
also holds the title Vice President of
Export Marketing.
• Ron Lacey, whose late wife Phyllis
was the daughter of co-founder
Fred. Ron met Phyllis while they were
students at Fresno State, and with a degree
in criminology he did some postgraduate
work and then embarked on
a career in law enforcement. For eight
years, he was an investigator with U.S.
Customs, based in San Diego. But then
his father-on-law convinced him to
come work at LoBue.
His first assignment was on the
shipping dock, then he worked in the
field, and next he was asked to be the
packing foreman. After five years in
that job, he was moved into sales to
work with Joe. Not long after, he assumed
responsibility for day-to-day
12 Citrograph November/December 2012

domestic sales, and all told he ended up
spending 24 years in sales. Today, Ron
holds the title of Vice President and is
a paid consultant.
As to who ended up doing what
within the partnership, Fred notes that
“we all gravitated to what we liked to
do and did well.”
And, by all indications the family
dynamic is such that it makes for a very
positive and productive situation. “By
the time we became owners, we were
all so experienced and familiar with
the business that we pretty much knew
what needed to be done when an issue
came up,” he says.
‘Not just oranges anymore’
Their enterprises have evolved and
diversified over time just as the industry
itself has evolved and diversified.
As Robert likes to say, “It’s not just oranges
anymore.”
(They still farm that original 40-
acre “home ranch”, but it’s now in its
third iteration as the navel and Valencia
trees that in the 1960s replaced the
original trees have now themselves
been replaced with late navels and
mandarins.)
“When the five of us took over,
it was mostly oranges,” Robert says.
“That’s what the packinghouse did, so
that’s what we grew. It has always been
an integration of our growing and our
packing, with the family farming operation
supplying the packinghouse as
a base. For years, as we expanded, we
bought oranges or planted oranges.”
Then, in the 80s and early 90s, he
says, “Things began to change, and
there were new varieties on the scene.
We started shifting gears and went on a
late navel kick for about 15 years. And
now, we’re gradually and methodically
going through and redeveloping our
properties because, just like on the
home ranch, the trees are old and need
replacing.”
As Fred reports, “We’re switching
out the Valencias and, in addition
to once again planting some old-line
Washington navels, we’re putting in
late navels, some very late navels, ruby
grapefruit, early season and later season
easy peelers, some blood oranges,
and a couple of unusual new varieties
as well.”
“Our family farming operation
and our packing operation are tied at
the hip,” Robert says. “If the packinghouse
doesn’t do well, that means the
farming company doesn’t do well, and
if the farming company doesn’t produce
the right type of fruit, that means
it hurts the overall production of the
packinghouse.”
The LoBue Citrus logo has the tagline
“legacy of excellence”, and it’s obvious
in talking with this group that they
are keenly aware of the significance of
having a company almost 80 years old
that’s still family-owned and operated.
“One thing that stands out with our
Metarex ® 4% * Snail and Slug Bait
Protect Citrus Quality and Grade
with
• Superior palatability and attraction
promotes early feeding and faster control.
• Maximum weatherability—holds up to moisture
and rehardens for longer-lasting control.
• Highest pellet count per pound
for superior coverage and maximum control.
Outlasts and outperforms.
grandfather and with our parents is that
instead of just taking their money out
of the business and keeping it for themselves,
they invested in the next generation,”
says Robert.
“Our parents had to sacrifice financially
because even though they
sold it to us – we had to buy in – they
took terms in the transaction because
we didn’t have a lot of money. And
they didn’t have to do that. They could
have easily said, ‘let’s just cash out and
move on.’”
Snail damage to orange
The Power is in the Pellet!
November/December 2012 Citrograph 13

The three brothers sold to the five
children who, including a son-in-law,
were fully committed to working in the
business.
“We have always had a philosophy
of wanting to continue the family in
citrus,” Robert goes on. “We’ve had a
belief that there is a purpose to it, that
the citrus industry is a good thing, that
we’re producing food for the world.
And so we’re doing the same thing for
our children, trying to foster that same
type of connection.”
“From our grandfather to our fathers
and now to the five of us with
our children, it’s the idea of giving the
next generation an opportunity to not
only continue and hopefully expand
(the companies) but for each person to
create their own life in the citrus business.
None of us have ever perceived
our working here as a job, and we got
that from the seniors. It’s a life and a
lifestyle. And we’re handing off the opportunity
that was given to us. We want
to carry the dream forward.”
Strategic and Succesion Planning
A little over two years ago, with
the members of the partnership either
Several members of the fourth generation of LoBues
involved in citrus are in management positions -- two
with LoBue Citrus, one with Sun Rapt Foods, and one
working outside the family for Lehr Brothers, Inc. in
Kern County.
• Fred’s son Vince actually started his career on a
very different path, studying biology at UC Berkeley and
then working in a medical research laboratory at UC San
Diego. However, after two years in the lab, he was persuaded
by his father to come home to the family business.
He spent the next seven years at LoBue, mainly in
operations but also as a field man. “They had me doing
just about everything,” he says, “which was great preparation.”
That experience, which included a stint at their
Exeter facility while a new packline was being installed,
was especially useful when he was hired away by Lehr in
2006 (with Fred’s blessing) to set up the organic program
Lehr was starting.
Today, he is the Citrus Operations Manager at Lehr
Brothers, overseeing the farming, harvesting and packing
for the company, which in addition to Lehr’s own production
also packs for outside growers. The fruit they handle
comes from Kern, Tulare, and Ventura counties and in-
The next generation…
Left to right: Roxanne, Jennifer, and Lori LoBue. Inset: Fred’s son Vince.
cludes navels, Valencias, lemons and avocadoes, mostly
organic. He also farms some citrus of his own. (LoBues
still handle a considerable amount of Lehr’s conventional
fruit, a relationship that goes back to the late 60s.)
Vince quite literally grew up in the packinghouse,
starting to learn the ropes when he was 13 or 14.
• Fred’s daughter Roxanne is the Controller for
LoBue Citrus. She joined the company as a full-time
staffer in 1996, working first in the shipping department
and then moving to accounting. But she had also worked
summers for LoBue Bros. during high school, doing miscellaneous
jobs on the packinghouse floor as well as in
the office. In addition, she did part-time work for Philip
at the CCPI juice plant. Her degree is in management
from Fresno Pacific University.
• Joe’s daughter Jennifer also did an informal internship
of sorts as a teenager but with a focus on the farming
side, spending her summers and other school breaks
in the orange groves. In 2002, after graduating from Cal
State Chico with a degree in ag business and a minor in
business administration, she went through a formalized
internship program at LoBue that entailed “immersion
in all aspects of the business.”
She then took a two-year break
from the company, working in export
sales on the East Coast and in
San Francisco before returning in
2005 to join the sales department at
LoBue. Her position today is Domestic
Sales Manager.
• Philip’s daughter Lori is the
Marketing and Business Development
Manager at the LoBue- affiliated
company Sun Rapt Foods,
LLC, a post she has held for the
past two years. A graduate of Santa
Clara University with a degree in
finance, she earlier spent several
years in San Francisco working in
marketing for a high-end specialty
retailer.
And, in case you’re wondering,
there are nine other members of
this next generation who may someday
join the others at LoBue.
14 Citrograph November/December 2012

semi-retired, nearing retirement, or
at least starting to think about what
they might do in retirement, they went
through a formalized succession planning
process.
This is something that all familyowned
and closely held businesses are
urged to do, for obvious reasons.
For the LoBues, the succession
considerations were a critical element
of some broader strategic planning
they were doing for both the farming
side of their business and the packinghouse
side. They needed to take an indepth
look, Fred says, at what varieties
to pull out, what to plant and how best
to market the fruit in the future. The
next generation of family members
and most of the management team
were involved in every step.
As background, he mentioned
that every year since the partners took
ownership, they’ve held an annual
“shareholder’s meeting” that’s “part
family reunion and part business
meeting”. The entire group participates
in the business session, spouses
and children included, and, for as long
as their health would allow them to attend,
the three “seniors” were always
invited.
“In recent years,” he says, “We’ve
been using that meeting to explain to
the next generation exactly what we’re
doing to address pressing issues.’’
But when it came to strategic planning
as a separate undertaking, and
specifically for the succession planning
aspects, they were guided by an
outside consultant who served as both
facilitator and advisor.
The process went on for over a
year, and during its most intensive
phase it included a grueling, three-day,
closed-door discussion that had them
holed up in a hotel conference room.
The experts in this field will tell
you that when this type of planning is
done well, the actual process of going
through it will end up being as valuable
as the plan that comes out of it, if
not more so.
The LoBues are now three years
into implementing their plan and say
that, in their experience at least, having
the guidance of an objective third
party was extremely helpful. As one
of them put it, “When you’re close to
a situation, you sometimes can’t see
the forest for the trees and you need
someone on the outside to show you
where you’re going.”
To profile the LoBues without
bringing in the Wollenmans would be
an egregious oversight because the
two families have worked together for
more than 60 years.
“We’ve had an extremely successful
and symbiotic association that we
think is probably unequaled anywhere
else in our industry,” Fred says.
He gives tremendous credit to the
late G.A. Wollenman, LoBue Bros.’
long-time General Manager, who was
a mentor to all five of the current owners
while they were learning their way
through every area of packinghouse
operations.
G.A.’s sons Tony and Tom have
also held top positions in the company.
Tony was Director of Packing Operations
when he retired in 2004. Tommy
retired at the start of this season after
serving as General Manager since
2005. He will, however, continue to be
very much involved as a paid consultant
and will continue to serve on the
LoBue Bros. board.
Industry service and leadership
They have been very generous
with the time they’ve devoted to industry
organizations. Fred in particular
has been especially active, with
his past work including service (and
chairmanship) on the boards of the
California-Arizona Citrus League, the
Agriculture Producers Labor Committee,
and California Citrus Mutual.
He’s been a director of the Citrus-
Avocado Pension Trust since 1975 and
also serves on the board of Western
Growers.
Robert is on the Pension Trust
board as well and also sits on the California
Citrus Nursery Board. When
the Orange Administrative programs
were in place years ago, Joe served
on both the Navel and Valencia Committees.
Philip has been a director and
chairman of California Citrus Mutual
(CCM), and while working at CCPI he
was active in the National Juice Processors
Association.
They have many more involvements
we could list, including volunteer
work with community, civic, and
nonprofit organizations, but you get
the idea.
That 75th anniversary brochure
quoted earlier included the comment
that their history “is most of all the
story of a loving family, who through
it all, pulled together, stayed together,
and built their American dream.”
You can’t help but think that,
nearing the 100th anniversary of their
arrival in this country, Filipo and Vincenza
would be proud.
Anne Warring is a third generation
member of the industry. A former CRB
staff member, she now works as a business
communications consultant. l
THE ANSWER
You would be amazed at the results of an online search
for “oranges in Christmas stocking”. Have you heard of a
legend involving gold coins (Do You Know, page 5.)
The tale, as told in Internet posts, is that St. Nicholas
learned of the plight of three young maidens who were
about to be sold into slavery because they didn’t have dowries.
He tossed gold coins through the window or down the
chimney, expecting them to land on the hearth, but instead
they fell into stockings the girls had drying by the fire. And
so, the story goes, the gold he gifted has been symbolized by
golden balls – oranges, and sometime apples.
Successful growers like
Mark Campbell of Willits &
Newcomb cover their Citrus
with Agra Tech Greenhouses.
Agra Tech is here to help
your crop stay healthy and
protected from Psyllids.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 15

Flowers to the Living
A ‘Thank You’ note to Charlie Coggins
With a review of PGRs in California citrus
Carol J. Lovatt
If you are a citrus grower in California,
by this time of year, you have either
“gibbed” many of your orchard
blocks or are wishing you had!
“Gibbing”, the cultural practice of
spraying commercially bearing citrus
trees with gibberellic acid (GA 3
) prior
to color break to delay rind senescence
of the fruit in late harvested orchards,
revolutionized the California citrus industry
forever for the better.
Equally impressive were the dramatic
positive effects this management
strategy had on the lives of people involved
directly, and even peripherally,
with the citrus industry.
So reliable are the annual economic
benefits derived from gibbing citrus
fruit for late harvest, it has become
a standard horticultural practice in
most citrus-producing countries of the
world, not only for sweet oranges but
also for mandarin hybrids, lemons and
limes. Consumers have also benefited.
They now have a year-round supply of
nutritious fresh oranges at an affordable
price.
If you know the history of the use
of GA 3
in citrus production, then you
have heard of – and perhaps even had
the privilege to meet – Dr. Charles W.
Coggins, Jr. It is to Charlie, as he prefers
to be called, that our collective
“thank you” goes.
The backstory…
Thank You articles such as
this one are a recurring feature
in Citrograph, the idea being that
if you appreciate what someone
is doing or has done in this life –
someone whose efforts have made
your life better – let them know.
Send flowers to the living.
Dr. Charles W. Coggins, Jr. Photo
taken in 2000, used courtesy of the
University of California Riverside.
Copyright UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection. Used by permission.
Groundbreaking research and
practical application
Charlie Coggins is a talented scientist!
Not only does he have the distinction
of having made groundbreaking
fundamental research discoveries, but
he also receives high accolades for his
commitment to the successful development
of the practical application of
these technologies.
Dr. Coggins discovered early in his
career that GA 3
applied to citrus would
delay rind senescence. As he pursued
this discovery over the years, he elucidated
GA 3
’s mode of action and identified
a significant number of other benefits
derived from the application of
GA 3
to citrus fruit.
He pursued these benefits by implementing
his research findings in
commercial orchards and then, through
multiple comprehensive field experiments
under many different growing
conditions, he developed the sound
recommendations that to this day
guide citrus growers annually.
Dr. Coggins was so thorough that
he even developed the residue analyses
package essential to obtaining EPA approval
for use of a plant growth regulator
in the production of a commercial
crop. It is rare for a researcher to work
as devotedly, intensely and tirelessly to
provide growers with a new production
management tool as Dr. Coggins did.
Ted Batkin, the president of the California
Citrus Research Board, summed
it up nicely: “Dr. Coggins is one of the
most influential modern researchers in
citrus culture in the world.”
Charles W. Coggins, Jr. was born in
Cherryville, North Carolina, on November
17, 1930. He received his B.S. (with
honors) and M.S. degrees in agronomy
from North Carolina State University
in 1952 and 1954, respectively.
16 Citrograph November/December 2012

Charlie and his wife, Irene, then
headed west to the University of California
Davis, where he earned his Ph.D.
in plant physiology in 1958. Interestingly,
in 1957 Charlie had already joined
the University of California Riverside
(UCR) as a junior plant physiologist.
Surprisingly, years later Charlie admitted,
“I was never interested in doing
research on citrus.”
While pursuing his B.S. and M.S.
degrees, he had become interested in
herbicide physiology. This was the basis
for his decision to pursue a Ph.D. at UC
Davis, where he could study with Professor
Alden Crafts, the giant in herbicide
physiology at that time.
It was an inquiry from UCR regarding
a position they had open in
plant growth regulation in citrus that
brought Dr. Coggins to Riverside.
Charlie was reluctant to accept the position
because he considered the PGR
researchers of the day “a flaky bunch
of people.”
Fortunately for the industry, he accepted
UCR’s offer, later recalling, “I
was asked to make better use of plant
growth regulators on citrus. That was
all.” Charlie certainly accomplished
that and then some!
At the time that Dr. Coggins was
initiating his research program on citrus
at UCR, ‘Washington’ navel and
‘Valencia’ sweet oranges dominated
California citrus production. California’s
picture-perfect fruit were in great
demand for their excellent eating quality
by consumers throughout the United
States. However, fruit were only available
two times per year, as first navels
and then ‘Valencias’ reached maturity.
Harvesting, packing and marketing
each cultivar within the narrow period
of time that was defined by achieving
acceptable eating quality at the beginning
of the season and avoiding unacceptable
losses due to excessive drop of
senescent fruit at the end of the season
had its problems.
First, there were the negative consequences
on fruit value and grower income
associated with flooding the consumer
market with product due to the
need to get the fruit off the trees. This
pressure grew steadily worse as navel
orange acreage increased.
Second, for three months out of
each year, packinghouses were without
fruit and their labor force without employment.
The industry was basically
shut down for that period, impacting
suppliers, the large migrant labor force
supporting the industry which annually
packed up and moved, and the local
“mom and pop” shops, gas stations, and
restaurants frequented by labor families.
Moreover, a very valuable asset
– the packinghouse – was sitting idle
three months of the year!
Appreciating the impact of gibbing
Gibbing changed everything! Fruit
could now be stored on the tree well
past the “normal” maturity window
for the cultivar, making it possible to
harvest, pack and market navels and
‘Valencias’ over longer periods, supplying
consumers with fresh oranges
12 months of the year. Moreover, GA 3
-
treated fruit were of superior quality
(i.e., the incidence of rind staining, water
spot, puff and sticky rind were all
reduced by GA 3
).
The financial benefit of year-round
marketing of sweet oranges is so huge
it is difficult to calculate with accuracy.
In contrast, the fundamental changes
to the California citrus industry from
having a year-round supply of fruit are
easy to enumerate because they are as
Dr. Coggins remains the perfect example of those
few rare scientists who have made important
basic research discoveries of phenomenal
practical benefit to crop production.
Photo courtesy of UC Riverside.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 17

important today as they were then.
Those benefits have been so basic
to the business for so many years that
it really isn’t necessary to list them,
but it’s human nature to take things
for granted so they’re worth a quick
review:
First, there was the greater capacity
to match fruit supply with consumer
demand, which stabilized prices
and industry income. Second, having
California sweet oranges in the market
year-round eliminated the previous
need to re-establish individual
markets every year. Third, marketing
teams were more efficient and costeffective
when working 12 months a
year. Fourth, continuous operation of
packinghouses generated increased
revenue that was invested in upgrading
equipment, in new technology, and
in employee training.
In fact, the effect of year-round
packinghouse employment on the labor
force was nothing less than transformational.
The large itinerant labor force
supporting the citrus industry could
now settle in one place, own homes,
and send their children to school. The
stable workforce made it cost-effective
for packinghouses to invest in employee
training. In turn, having a skilled
workforce enabled packinghouses to
utilize cost-saving sophisticated machinery
and technology, creating new
opportunities for employee education
and advancement.
Maurice Johnson, now retired, who
served as vice president of research
and development for Sunkist Growers,
Inc., asserted in the mid-1980s,
“California citrus now is probably the
most mechanized horticultural crop
in the world because of gibb. Forklift
handling of bins of fruit, automated
Extraordinary amount of information
and guidance at your fingertips
Have you looked recently at the University of California
Integrated Pest Management web site Go to http://
www.ipm.ucdavis.edu, click on “Agricultural Pests”, then on
“Citrus” and then on “Plant Growth Regulators”. There are
guidelines developed by researchers at UC Riverside for using
PGRs to solve critical problems in citrus production.
Need to increase fruit size The details have been
worked out for using 2,4-D to increase fruit size of navel and
‘Valencia’ oranges and grapefruit. Whether a grower plans
early and wants to apply 2,4-D when the fruit are only 3/16
to 1/4 inch (5-6 mm) in diameter or only notices the need to
increase fruit size later in the season when
fruit are already 5/8 to 3/4 inch (16-19mm)
in diameter, the results of painstaking research
provide directions on exactly how
much 2,4-D to apply in each case and for
several intermediate sizes, too!!! Guesswork
is virtually eliminated.
Further, included in the directions are
the pro’s and con’s of the 2,4-D treatments
-- potential rind roughness of ‘Valencia’
fruit, but reduced mature fruit drop and
delayed granulation, decreased rind splitting
of navel, and control of mature fruit
drop in grapefruit.
Want to thin your crop The cultural
practice of reducing the number of fruit on a citrus tree to
increase fruit size and crop value and also to reduce the potential
for or severity of alternate bearing in an orchard was
also worked out in great detail by Drs. Hield and Coggins.
Fruit thinning can be tricky because efficacy is highly dependent
on climate. With a visit to the section on fruit thinning
with ethyl 1-naphthaleneacetate (NAA) on the IPM
Web site, growers become fully informed about the interactions
among NAA concentration, temperature and degree of
fruit abscission. Knowledge is power. The information that
Charlie developed through exhaustive research gives the
grower greater control over the degree of thinning that will
occur.
“In general, inadequate thinning occurs from the lowest
label rate of NAA when maximum daytime temperatures
on the day of application and several days thereafter are
relatively low (~85°F [29°C]). Excessive thinning generally
occurs from the highest label rate when maximum daytime
temperatures on the day of application and several days
thereafter are relatively high (~100°F [38°C]). In addition,
excessive thinning can occur when NAA is applied to unhealthy
or water-stressed trees.” Forewarned is forearmed!
Need to stop sucker or shoot growth Some cultivars
and rootstocks have a high propensity to produce watersprouts
and suckers from scaffold limbs, the scion trunk or
rootstock trunk. Benny Boswell and Dean McCarty, in the
Plant Sciences Department and later in
the Botany and Plant Sciences Department
at UCR, developed the use of ethyl
1-naphthaleneacetate (NAA) to control
sprouting from scaffold limbs, trunks, and
rootstocks. NAA is a very cost-effective
solution to the problem when it is applied
just prior to or during early shoot growth.
Used in this manner, the treatment can
eliminate costly pruning. However, NAA
is less effective once the shoots have attained
significant growth.
Need to increase fruit set and size
of mandarin fruit GA 3
to increase fruit
set of Clementine mandarin and 2,4-D to
increase fruit size of mandarin and mandarin hybrids are
the latest additions to the repertoire of PGRs used in citrus
production in California. These two PGR strategies were
made available to growers through the research of Dr. C.
Thomas Chao, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences,
UCR, to meet the needs of the expanding California mandarin
industry.
PGRs in the packinghouse. One of the best treatments
for preventing Alternaria rot of lemons is by the addition of
2,4-D to the water-wax emulsion applied to the fruit or to
the final fresh water rinse of the fruit prior to storage. This
treatment keeps the buttons from turning black and abscising,
which prevents the fungus from entering the fruit and
reduces decay. The application of 2,4-D also delays the aging
process of fruit, further protecting it from decay.
18 Citrograph November/December 2012

dumping equipment, electronic blemish
grading and color sorting, electronic
sizing and automatic packing machines
are now in place. No longer is the citrus
industry labor intensive as it was in recent
history.”
The use of GA 3
to delay rind senescence
and thus extend the harvest and
marketing window of oranges had such
significant economic and social consequences
that Johnson cited it some 30
years ago as “the single most important
development in the California citrus industry
in recent times”.
Investigating auxins to prevent fruit
drop
The team of Hield and Coggins.
William Stewart and Henry Hield
in the Plant Sciences Department at
UCR successfully registered 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic
acid (2,4-D) for
reducing fruit drop and increasing fruit
size. They also figured out that applying
2,4-D to ‘Valencia’ and grapefruit trees
in spring would serve a dual purpose --
preventing mature fruit drop while also
increasing fruit size of the setting crop.
Prior to Charlie’s arrival, Stewart
had left UCR. Thus, the team of Hield
and Coggins undertook the fine-tuning
of 2,4-D that led to the recommendations
in place today. Not only did they
test several different auxins, but also
once they had identified 2,4-D as the
most efficacious auxin, they went on to
test different formulations of 2,4-D to
determine which was best.
Colleagues Hield and Coggins
similarly conducted experiments over
those early years to determine the optimal
time to apply 2,4-D to maximally
inhibit preharvest fruit drop of navel,
‘Valencia’, grapefruit, lemon, and tangelo
and other citrus hybrids, respectively,
right down to providing guidance
specifying when 2,4-D should be
applied in relation to the different possible
harvest windows to assist growers
in achieving the specific outcome they
desired.
The precision of this research enabled
the team to instruct growers that
the setting ‘Valencia’ fruit should be 0.5
inches (13 mm) in diameter at the time
of 2,4-D application, whereas the setting
grapefruit needed to be 0.75 inches
(19 mm) in diameter!
They worked out how to properly
time 2,4-D sprays in relationship to
lime applications for grapefruit and
“In developing our field uses for ProGibb on citrus, Abbott Laboratories
worked extensively with Charlie. We also did trials, separate from the University,
working directly with citrus growers. Charlie’s field trial results were
always unquestionable, however.
He insisted on an astounding 20 replicates. But not just 20 trees in a
row. We walked the entire grove looking for 20 trees that were similar in
size, color, and crop load. That was for each treatment. Often these trials
had more than five or six treatments. We had to hand-pick over 100 trees
for each trial site.
Charlie was always thinking in terms of the industry. He was reluctant to
publish data that was negative just for the sake of getting a publication. He
always focused on what did work, and what tools were effective to help the
grower and industry.
As renowned as Charlie is, both domestically and internationally, he was
always approachable. He has the unique ability to make everyone comfortable.
He takes the time to interact and share his knowledge. Yet, at the same
time he was reluctant to take all the credit. He always gave credit to his colleagues
for their participation. A true Gentleman.”
— Rob Fritts, formerly of Abbott Laboratories, now a technical development
specialist with Valent BioSciences Corporation (VBC).
how to combine 2,4-D with pesticide
oil sprays to prevent leaf drop.
Over the course of his career, Dr.
Coggins continued to test each new
commercial auxin that came into the
market with the goal of saving growers
money by finding an auxin that was
even more effective than 2,4-D.
The 2,4-D isopropyl ester and formulations
containing 3.34 or 3.36 lb of
acid equivalent per gallon – are still
preferred to this day.
Thoroughness in every aspect
It’s in the details. Charlie Coggins is
renowned for his thoroughness and attention
to detail in every aspect of his
research. Dr. Coggins didn’t develop
a protocol for use of GA 3
on sweet
oranges with the expectation that it
would be good enough for other citrus
cultivars. No, he proceeded to determine
with great precision the optimal
time that GA 3
should be applied
to prevent rind senescence with the
It is rare for a researcher
to work as devotedly,
intensely and tirelessly
to provide growers
with a new production
management tool.
greatest efficacy for navel, ‘Valencia’,
tangerine (mandarin), lemon and lime,
respectively.
In a second line of research, Dr.
Coggins conducted a series of experiments
testing the addition of various
adjuvants to the GA 3
sprays for their
capacity to increase GA 3
uptake, and
hence GA 3
efficacy, so that the final
amount of GA 3
that had to be applied
could be reduced without compromising
the end result, but with significant
financial savings to growers.
He determined that GA 3
should
not be applied to young citrus trees due
to the potential for excessive leaf drop
and how to combine 2,4-D and GA 3
in
a single spray to reduce GA 3
-induced
leaf and fruit drop and twig dieback of
navel oranges, while also reducing midto
late season mature fruit drop.
The instructions for using plant
growth regulators (PGRs) in general
and the precautions that must be taken
when applying GA 3
, 2,4-D and NAA
in particular that Charlie wrote for the
Citrus IPM Treatment Guide and that
now appear on the University of California
Integrated Pest Management
web site, have ensured the efficacy of
each PGR over the years. I addition,
proper use of each PGR has protected
the good name of the citrus growers
and the California citrus industry.
It didn’t all pan out
With this phenomenal record, it is
hard to believe that some things Charlie
tested didn’t work. It’s true! But there is
November/December 2012 Citrograph 19

a reason. Charlie was so thorough and
so committed to the growers that he
felt it was his responsibility to test all
the new PGRs that became commercially
available for use on citrus.
He wanted to find any and all that
might prove beneficial to the growers.
He also wanted to identify those that
did not perform well to protect the
growers’ wallets. He also tested PGR
treatments that worked well in other
citrus-producing countries to determine
how well they performed under
California growing conditions. Some
PGR strategies transfer well from one
growing area to another; others do not.
Such was the case with the use of
GA 3
applied when sweet orange fruit
were about golf ball size to reduce the
incidence of crease (albedo breakdown).
It was a very effective treatment
in South Africa but one that Charlie’s
careful research proved didn’t work in
California. Reducing crease in California
was best accomplished with applications
of GA 3
timed to reduce rind
senescence.
Still more in his body of work
PGRs are not the whole story. Dr.
Coggins is well known for his research
on the biosynthesis and accumulation
of chlorophyll, lycopene and carotenoids
and structural changes in chloroplasts
and chromoplasts in the rinds
of citrus fruit. Further, he quantified
SAVE
THE
DATE
the influence of light, stages of fruit
development and maturation, and GA 3
on these pigments and the cell structures
in which they are contained.
Through this basic research, Dr.
Coggins became a leader in mitigating
the reversion of chromoplasts to chloroplasts
and preventing “regreening”
of ‘Valencia’ orange fruit. He identified
chemical treatments that stimulated
lycopene and carotenoid synthesis and
others that led to the destruction of
chlorophyll.
Other research related to the biochemistry
of fruit development and
maturation included changes in alkanes
in the epicuticular wax of citrus
fruit, accumulation of limonoids, limonin
and limonoate in juice sacs, fruit
respiration and changes in the composition
of the internal atmosphere of
developing citrus fruit. Such investigations
were designed to obtain the basic
tools for improving citrus fruit quality.
UCR colleagues Dr. Winston
Jones, Dr. Tom Embleton and Dr.
Charlie Coggins conducted critical
research into the problem of alternate
bearing of ‘Kinnow’ mandarin,
a cultivar that essentially crops itself
to death. They established the negative
relationship between crop load
and root starch content that resulted
in tree decline and the relationships
among increasing crop load, greater
bud abscisic acid levels and decreased
UCR Citrus Day will be held Thursday, January 31, at
the Agricultural Operations (Ag Ops) facilities at UC
Riverside. This is an industry only meeting. There will
be a nominal charge for lunch. Mark your calendar
now and check for further information at
http://citrusvariety.ucr.edu.
Last year’s Citrus Day. Photo courtesy of UCR Strategic Communications
bud break, a factor contributing to low
floral intensity at bloom following the
heavy on-crop.
And not only citrus
Dr. Coggins also conducted research
with colleagues as part of a team
effort to determine the physiological
and anatomical factors contributing to
tenderness versus toughness in Deglet
Noor dates and use of PGRs to increase
flower retention to increase yield in
commercial tomato production.
The team of Dr. Roy Young, Dr.
Charlie Coggins, Stephen Lee and
Paula Schiffman, all in the Department
of Botany and Plant Sciences at UCR,
building on research done in South Africa,
identified the relationships among
percent oil, dry mater content and maturity
of avocado fruit grown in California.
Establishing that the oil content
of avocado fruit correlated with fruit
dry matter content and fruit maturity
provided California avocado growers
with a fast, inexpensive and accurate
method for determining when their
fruit were ready to pick -- a method
that gave growers control over deciding
when their fruit should be harvested
and confidence that their fruit
would be mature on arrival in the packinghouse
and would not be rejected.
With the use of this method, packinghouses
gained confidence that they
were providing consumers with the
high quality avocado fruit that are now
the hallmark of the California avocado
industry.
Using dry matter content to determine
fruit maturity replaced a costly
and difficult- to-use procedure for
quantifying fruit oil content that frequently
gave erroneous results and
could not be done by the growers.
The absolute value for dry matter
content that legally defines a mature
avocado fruit may vary from one avocado-growing
country to the next, but dry
matter content is the standard test used
for defining fruit maturity throughout
the global avocado industry. Forrest
Cress stated it well in a UC news release
describing the success of the research
and its practical value, “Growers
could now determine avocado fruit maturity
with only a microwave, a simple
scale and a plastic plate!!!”
In recognition of the commercial
impact of this research, the American
Society for Horticultural Science
20 Citrograph November/December 2012

(ASHS) awarded the four UCR colleagues
the 1984 Wilson Popenoe
Award for excellence in research with
tropical and subtropical evergreen tree
fruits and nuts.
Chuck Orman, left, representing fellow
CCQC board members, presents Dr.
Coggins with the Albert G. Salter
Memorial Award in January 2003. Photo
courtesy of the California Citrus Quality
Council.
ing graduate students. As you would
imagine, he was an excellent instructor.
He taught Citriculture, which had
both a lecture and lab. Professor Coggins
gave clear, thoughtful and wellorganized
lectures that made challenging
concepts easy for the students to
understand without “dumbing down”
what the students were required to
achieve. Students really seemed to en-
Teaching, administration, and
leadership
Research is not the whole story. At
UCR, Dr. Coggins progressed quickly
through the ranks from Assistant
(1958) to Associate (1964) to Plant
Physiologist (full title, 1970), becoming
Professor of Plant Physiology in 1975,
concurrent with accepting the responsibility
of chairing the Department of
Plant Sciences.
Chair Coggins facilitated the transfer
of botanists from the Biology Department
at UCR into the Plant Sciences
Department to form the academically
highly regarded Department of
Botany and Plant Sciences (BPSC). To
this day, BPSC remains a broad-based,
academically renowned plant biology
department. Professor Coggins continued
to chair the Department of Botany
and Plant Sciences through 1982.
As a Professor, Dr. Coggins was involved
in classroom teaching and guidjoy
the class and even claimed to have
fun in lab!
Coggins served as major professor
for two Master of Science students
and one Ph.D. student – Dr. Mohamed
El-Otmani – who, besides having a distinguished
scientific career of his own
as a Professor at a major university in
Morocco, went on to be president of
the International Society of Citriculture
(ISC) and host the 10th International
Society of Citriculture Congress
in Agadir, Morocco, in 2004.
Service to horticulture
internationally
Professional Service – ISC and
more. Since its inception in 1970, the
International Society of Citriculture
(ISC) has had its headquarters at UC
Riverside. Dr. Coggins was instrumental
in the early organization of the
society and has been invaluable in its
continued success, serving as Executive
Secretary and Treasurer from 1985
through 2001, at which time the Society
boasted nearly 700 members from 50
countries.
For his significant contributions to
(1) the worldwide citrus industry and
November/December 2012 Citrograph 21

(2) the activity and welfare of ISC,
Charles W. Coggins was elected a Fellow
Member – ISC’s most prestigious
award – by the Executive Committee
of ISC.
For more than 40 years, Dr. Coggins
was also an active member of the
American Society for Horticultural
Science (ASHS), which recognized his
contributions to this field of study not
only with the awarding of the Wilson
Popenoe Award in 1984 but also by
electing him an ASHS Fellow in 1992.
According to the ASHS Web site,
“Election as a Fellow of the Society is
the highest honor that ASHS can bestow
on its members, in recognition of
truly outstanding contributions to horticulture
and the Society.”
As a surprise “thank you”, the
Australian Citrus Growers Federation
commissioned a local artist to prepare
a cartoon of each presenter at their
1995 meeting. From C. Coggins
personal collection.
W h y p a y f o r
p r i n t h e a d s w h e n
y o u c a n g e t t h e m
U s e g e n u i n e Z e b r a s u p p l i e s a n d a l l y o u r
p r i n t h e a d s w i l l b e r e p l a c e d a t n o c h a r g e .
C o n t a c t D a t a G e a r t o g e t s t a r t e d o r v i s i t o u r
w e b s i t e
7 1 4 - 5 5 6 - 5 0 5 5 | w w w . d a t a g e a r . c o m / z e b r a
Service to California’s citrus industry
There’s more. Dr. Coggins was
Chair of the Board of Directors of the
California Citrus Quality Council from
1992 to 2008. Charlie’s service to the
Council was exceptional; he led the
board for 15 seasons.
Chuck Orman, who worked for
Sunkist for over 30 years and retired
as their Director of Science and Technology,
says Coggins was the natural
choice for CCQC Chairman in 1992
when Dr. Glenn Carman decided to resign
after serving in that position since
the inception of CCQC in 1967.
Orman notes that “with his knowledge
of the pesticide regulatory processes,
and his direct contributions to
the citrus industry through his research
into the use of PGRs, Charlie was the
only scientist who could have successfully
shepherded the organization
through the upcoming years.”
Orman reports, “Charlie was reluctant
to take on the role, fearing that he
would not have the time to do justice to
the task. Since Charlie doesn’t do things
halfway, he required a good deal of reassurance
that the role was largely honorary
and mostly required that he only
chair the monthly Board meetings.”
“Of course none of this was true,
but it was for a good cause, and the
CCQC really wanted Charlie to take
the position! In subsequent years, the
claim that the Chair would have a light
workload became even less true.”
Orman served on the CCQC Board
for 29 years, including as Vice Chairman
for 21 years and twice as Interim
President. So, needless to say, Chuck
knows Charlie and his work very well.
Giving guidance through
unprecedented challenge
While there were a myriad of urgent
issues and emergencies during
Charlie’s tenure, the signature event,
Orman reports, was arguably the looming
loss of registration for two compounds
essential to the industry – 2,4-
D isopropyl ester (IPE) and the postharvest
fungicide SOPP/OPP.
The background was that in 1988
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) was amended
to accelerate the reregistration of
products with active ingredients registered
prior to November 1, 1984. In
1992, both 2,4-D IPE and SOPP/OPP
were listed for review.
In evaluating materials for reregistration,
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency requires a prescribed
set of scientific studies from pesticide
producers describing the human health
and environmental effects of the subject
compounds. The list of required
studies for a particular compound can
be exhaustive.
As Orman recounts, the crisis for
the citrus industry came about because
the manufacturers/registrants of the
two materials made business decisions
not to fund the exhaustive data studies
needed for the process because, in
their view, the market potential wasn’t
enough to justify the investment. The
22 Citrograph November/December 2012

costs involved were predicted to be in
the millions of dollars. And so it was up
to the industry to make it happen.
Orman continues, “In order to recoup
the cost of this effort, repayment,
based on sales, agreements were struck
with each of the companies that provide
these materials to the citrus industry
or that wanted to use the data
for other registrations. Ultimately, the
Citrus Research Board provided the
funding and CCQC administered the
work. CCQC continues to recoup the
investment through licensing fees paid
by the registrants.”
“Dr. Coggins’ guidance and unique
knowledge helped immeasurably in the
successful reregistration of these two
vital compounds and allowed continued
access to them for citrus growers
during the reregistration process,” Orman
says.
A proud family man
If you ask Charlie of what he’s
most proud, he is likely to say it’s his
family. Charlie married Sarah Irene
Jones, who goes by Irene, in March of
1951. They had three sons, Charles Stephen,
Bruce Alan and Roger William.
Like their parents, each son succeeded
professionally while helping others less
fortunate than themselves. For Charlie
and Irene, the joy of parenthood has
“Dr. Coggins is one of those
special people willing to make sacrifices
for you. When I was attending
Cal Poly SLO, I got the idea to do
my senior project on the chemical
thinning of navel oranges. My Dad,
Harrison, had worked for many
years with Dr. Coggins on Gib trials,
so he suggested I ask him to advise
me on the project.
My Cal Poly advisor didn’t object,
so Dr. Coggins agreed to help
and supplied me with extensive literature
on NAA thinning, connected
me with AMVAC chemical for
the NAA, and helped me design a
large trial in my Dad’s orchard. The
project eventually won an award,
and it wouldn’t have happened
without a UC Riverside professor
taking time to help a Cal Poly
student!”
—Roger Smith, TreeSource Nursery
progressed to the joy of being proud
grandparents. I know Charlie would
be the first to acknowledge Irene’s
strength behind the scenes in supporting
his efforts and facilitating his
achievements.
During his career, Dr. Coggins authored
more than 90 technical publications,
several of which won awards from
ASHS, and he has extended practical
information to citrus growers locally
and internationally through nearly 50
semi-technical publications.
As with his teaching of undergraduate
and graduate students, so
too in educating growers through oral
presentations and published articles,
Charlie brought the essence of what
they needed to know into a reality they
understood.
In summary, Dr. Charles W. Coggins,
Jr. has accomplished great things.
His research changed the entire citrus
industry plus he was part of a team
that contributed significantly to the
avocado industry. He provided decades
of leadership and service to the
citrus and horticultural industries, to
UCR in general and to the Department
of Botany and Plant Sciences in
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particular as well as to professional societies.
In absolutely everything with
which he has been involved, Charlie
Coggins gave 100% plus.
He retired from UCR in 1994, but
for a considerable period after that he
continued to conduct research, serve
as the Executive Secretary and Treasurer
of the ISC, and chair the Board
of CCQC.
Awarded for ‘advancements of
historical significance’
In 1997, Charlie was a most worthy
recipient of the National Agri-Marketing
Association’s National Award for
Agricultural Excellence in Science. As
stated by NAMA, “This award honors
individuals who have made agricultural
advancements of lifetime historical
noteworthiness and significance.
In general, the awards are based on
whether an individual’s achievements
will leave, or have left, the industry significantly
improved.”
In 2003, CCQC recognized Charlie’s
research and service with the California
citrus industry’s highest honor,
the Albert G. Salter Memorial Award.
Aptly, “this annual award for distinguished
service recognizes an individual
who has made outstanding contributions
to and achievements in the citrus
industry.”
Scholarships honoring Dr. Coggins
support the future of the citrus industry.
Shortly after Charlie officially retired
from the Department of Botany and
Plant Sciences at UCR -- keep in mind
that he did not stop working -- several
professors in the department asked
permission from Charlie to set up a
scholarship in his name. The goal was
to honor him by ensuring that his legacy
would be perpetuated through the
financial support of the next generation
of talented citrus researchers.
The UCR Charles W. Coggins, Jr.,
Endowed Scholarship is “for the benefit
and support of graduate student(s)
in the College of Natural and Agricultural
Sciences (CNAS) who demonstrate
academic excellence, quality
research, and benefit to the citrus industry.”
Support for the fund has been
fantastic from a large number of donors,
so much so that the scholarship
was successfully endowed in 2004.
Since 2008, the Charles W. Coggins,
Jr. Endowed Scholarship has been
awarded to six highly qualified graduate
students, supporting the students
and their research with more than
$20,000.
In 2003, California Citrus Mutual
established a second Charles W. Coggins
Scholarhsip to honor Dr. Coggins
and his contributions to the citrus industry.
Each year the California Citrus
Contributions to the Charles W.
Coggins, Jr. Scholarship at UC Riverside
are always welcome. Checks
should be made payable to the
UCR Foundation. Be sure to write
C.W. Coggins, Jr. Endowed Scholarship
in the memo area of the check,
and mail it to UCR Office of Advancement,
4118 Hinderaker Hall,
University of California, Riverside,
CA 92521 or in c/o Carol J. Lovatt,
Department of Botany and Plant
Sciences-072, University of California,
Riverside, CA 92521-0124.
Mutual Foundation awards a $2,000
scholarship to an upper-division undergraduate
student in agriculture in
Charlie’s name.
Thank you, Charlie! Throughout
his long and distinguished career, Dr.
Coggins remains the perfect example
of those few rare scientists who have
made important basic research discoveries
of phenomenal practical benefit
to crop production.
He is a very humble man. To hear
him tell it, he was just doing his job.
“To do research of practical value to
the citrus industry and do laboratory
research that would underpin that applied
research,” said Charlie, “that was
the charge as I heard it.” Awards and
scholarships were never on his mind.
But they are our way of saying “thank
you” when words seem inadequate to
convey the appreciation and admiration
one has for Charlie Coggins as a
scientist and as a person. So, too, was
the goal of this article.
References
American Society for Horticultural
Science (ASHS). Web site: www.ASHS.
org.
California Citrus Quality Council
24 Citrograph November/December 2012

(CCQC). Web site: www.cacitrusquality.org.
UC IPM Online: Statewide Integrated
Pest Management Program.
Web site: www.ipm.ucdavis.edu.
Acknowledgements
In addition to the references cited
above, the author wishes to acknowledge
the following sources of information
for this article: Dean’s Office,
College of Natural & Agricultural
Sciences, UC Riverside; Department
of Botany & Plant Sciences, UC Riverside;
and UCR Office of Strategic
Communications, especially the nomination
of Dr. Coggins for the NAMA
award written by Jana Shaker. The author
thanks Chuck Orman for his significant
contributions to the section on
Charlie’s tenure as Chair of the CCQC
Board of Directors.
Dr. Carol J. Lovatt is a Professor of
Plant Physiology, in the Department of
Botany and Plant Sciences, at University
of California Riverside. She writes,
“Dr. Coggins was Chair of the Department
of Botany and Plant Sciences
when I was hired. I couldn’t have asked
for a better role model and colleague in
those early years. To this day, I remain
inspired by the magnitude of his accomplishments.”
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CRB Funded Research Reports
Research Project Final Report
Part I - Citrus leprosis viruses
and their known Brevipalpus mite vector
Jose Carlos V. Rodrigues, Carl C. Childers, Elizabeth E. Grafton-Cardwell and Joseph G. Morse
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part article
on a CRB-funded research project, describing the viruses,
their distribution and virulence. The results of recent surveys
(2002 - 2010) to identify the Brevipalpus mite complex
in California using both morphological and molecular
methods will be reported in Parts II and III.
Although currently not known to occur in California,
Citrus leprosis disease is an imminent threat to citrus
production within the United States. Leprosis was
first described in Florida in the early 1900s, but there have
been no detections of it since 1955.
There are actually two different diseases that are referred
to as citrus leprosis. The diseases are caused by two
morphologically distinct viruses that live in different parts of
the host cell (Figure 1).
One virus is found within the nucleus of the host cell
(CiLV-N) and is assigned to the genus Dichorhabdovirus.
The second virus is found within the cytoplasm of the host
cell (CiLV-C) (Figures 1, 2) and it is considered to be a different
species. The new genus, Cilevirus, has been proposed
for the cytoplasmic virus.
The cytoplasm is the gel-like substance outside the
nucleus, but within the cell membrane, that holds all the
cell’s internal sub-structures (called organelles).
The disease caused by the CiLV-N virus has been found
in parts of Brazil and was first reported in western Panama
in 2000. The full geographical range of this form of citrus
leprosis in Central America is unknown.
CiLV-N is believed to have been the species of leprosis
that occurred in Florida citrus prior to the 1960s based on
transmission electron micrographs, photographs of disease
symptoms on leaves and fruit, similarity to other nuclear
type outbreaks of this disease and stored plant material in
Brazil from citrus infected plants collected in Florida in the
1930s.
The disease in Florida was reported to have declined
during the late 1920s. It is speculated that the widespread usage
of high-volume handgun spray applications of wettable
sulfur for mite control beginning in the 1920s was responsible
for this initial decline.
Devastating freezes occurred in Florida during December
1957, January 1958, and December 1962. It is speculated
that these freeze events either eliminated the reservoirs of
viral infection in citrus or significantly reduced virus-infected
Brevipalpus mite vectors of citrus leprosis. Citrus leprosis
was last reported in Florida by Carl Knorr in his 1955
journal records. These observations were not published
by Knorr until 1968.
Fig. 1. Schematic drawing representing where the two different
virus types associated with citrus leprosis reside in a host
plant cell. (A) Nuclear type (CiLV-N), in which virus particles
are found in the nucleus of the plant cell and (B) the cytoplasmic
type where the virus particles are found outside the
nucleus (CiLV-C).
Fig. 2. Bullet-shaped virus particles of Citrus Leprosis Virus-C
(CiLV-C) are shown in the cytoplasm of leaf mesophyll cells
of sweet orange. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
image was enhanced using a three dimensional feature.
26 Citrograph November/December 2012

A
B C D
Fig. 3. Citrus Leprosis Virus (CiLV-C) symptoms in a ‘Valencia’ sweet orange fruit (A), branch (B), and leaf (C). The upper half
of the fruit shows a higher number of citrus leprosis lesions. (D) Citrus leprosis (CiLV-N) symptoms on the leaf.
The cytoplasmic type of citrus leprosis is far more widespread
and more virulent (more rapid and severe) compared
with the nuclear type. The disease was unofficially reported
in Guatemala in 1995, and CiLV-C is thought to have spread
throughout Central America during the past two decades.
In 2004, CiLV-C was reported in Chiapas, Mexico, and
has since spread to at least four other states. CiLV-C was recently
detected in Queretano, Mexico (E. W, Kitijima – pers.
communication). In 2011, CiLV-C was reported in Belize.
Thus, it is working its way toward the United States.
Damage caused by leprosis
All citrus species, especially sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis),
can be infected by leprosis virus; however, mandarins
and hybrids such as ‘Murcott’ are considered to be less
susceptible.
Citrus leprosis causes lesions on the fruit, leaves and
twigs of citrus trees (Figure 3a-c). Coalescence of lesions is
commonly observed on susceptible varieties when they are
infested with high densities of viruliferous mites.
Lesion morphology varies with citrus host, age of the
plant tissue at the time of infection, symptom age, and the
type of tissue infected. Symptoms are generally circular or
elliptic with a central dark spot surrounded by a chlorotic
halo and having one to three brownish rings of a gummy
nature. Lesion size is typically 10 to 30 mm in diameter.
Lesion coloration on green fruits starts with a yellow hue
and progresses to brown or black with the development of
the fruit. The upper half of the fruit typically shows a higher
number of lesions than the lower half.
The majority of the symptoms on the branches are located
at places where new flush and subsequent leaf development
occur. These same areas are where Brevipalpus mites
aggregate. Lesions found on branches can be protuberant,
cortical and usually dry, although the presence of a gummy
substance also occurs in some cases.
Defoliation, fruit drop, and death of twigs and branches
A
C
B
Fig. 4. (A) ‘Valencia’ sweet orange orchard showing initial
symptoms of leprosis. (B) The following year the trees showed
severe dieback, premature leaf and fruit drop (C) caused by
citrus leprosis. Symptomatic damage by the disease to fruits
and leaves, Sao Paulo State Brazil.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 27

followed by severe plant dieback are commonly observed
in infected orchards without established control strategies
(Figure 4). If left uncontrolled, the disease is capable of killing
a citrus tree within three years.
Persons with a trained eye can distinguish between the
two types of leprosis based on symptom development. Leaf
lesions caused by CiLV-C tend to be larger, with a pale green
color and have the presence of concentric rings of a gummy
nature (Figure 3c). The lesions associated with CiLV-N are
smaller and commonly have a dark center with a bright yellow
halo in contrast to the dark green color of the surrounding
leaf (Figure 3d).
The known mite vector(s)
Both viruses that cause citrus leprosis are vectored by
one or more species of spider mites in the genus Brevipalpus,
known as false spider mites or flat mites. The only confirmed
vector of the cytoplasmic type of citrus leprosis virus is B.
phoenicis (Figure. 5).
Considerable confusion exists in the literature regarding
this point. In Florida and Guatemala, B. californicus was
reported as a vector, and in Argentina B. obovatus was also
reported as a vector of citrus leprosis. However, subsequent
examination of the voucher specimens collected from these
earlier reports revealed a mixture of Brevipalpus species; the
Florida samples contained both B. californicus and B. phoenicis,
the Argentina samples contained both B. obovatus and
B. phoenicis, and the Guatemala samples contained both B.
californicus and B. phoenicis. Thus, to date, no studies have
Fig. 5. A large colony of Brevipalpus phoenicis mites on sweet
orange fruit.
been published that prove that any species other than B.
phoenicis is a vector.
There is a strong possibility, however, that the other Brevipalpus
species can transmit citrus leprosis virus given that
B. californicus is the known vector of orchid fleck virus, a nuclear
type virus related to the nuclear type of citrus leprosis.
In addition, B. obovatus and B. phoenicis have been
identified as vectors of Cestrum ring spot virus on Cestrum
nocturum and ringspot virus on Solanum violaefolium in
Brazil. These two viruses are related to the nuclear and cy-
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toplasmic types of citrus leprosis, respectively.
There are 37 ornamental plant species that are known
hosts of Brevipalpus mites and their transmitted viruses
(Figure 6). Because of the wide host ranges of B. californicus,
B. obovatus and B. phoenicis, there is concern that one or
more non-symptomatic host plants exist that harbor either
the nuclear or cytoplasmic forms of citrus leprosis.
Furthermore, the vector could switch host plants easily
and cross-transmit viruses in the process. Therefore, these
viruses may be moved from one or more of these suspected
host plants back to citrus.
These research questions need to be addressed with
transmission studies. The discovery of ornamental host
plants infected with BTVs in the United States reinforces
the need to better understand mite vector-virus interrelationships.
Research on the Brevipalpus-transmitted diseases
could accelerate our understanding of the mite vector-virus
complex in advance of the imminent arrival of citrus leprosis
into the United States or other countries.
Control strategies
In Brazil, pruning is used to reduce inoculum levels in
citrus trees infected with citrus leprosis because of the role
branches play in harboring the mites, which then vector the
disease. Their removal slows the further spread of the disease
in an orchard.
Scouting is based on samples targeting the occurrence of
mites on fruits or year-old twigs, and treatment is based on a
single mite occurrence in 1-30% of the samples.
Miticides are applied at very low threshold levels of infestation
to control the mite vector, thus keeping the disease
in check. The presence of leprosis virus increases production
costs because of increased costs for scouting, pruning, and
chemical control.
Pesticide resistance is a chronic problem in Brazil because
the high reproductive rate of B. phoenicis results in
frequent treatments. There are a limited number of effective
miticides available, and rotation of these products is essential
to reduce resistance development. Biological control of
the mite vector using predacious mites or pathogenic fungi
have been considered.
However, in Brazil, the most desired situation is to keep
citrus orchards free of the disease. Growers must use virusfree
plants from certified nurseries and take appropriate
measures to avoid the introduction of virus-infected mites.
This includes avoiding the use of ornamental host plants as
wind breaks between orchards, the elimination of alternate
weed host plants within and around the orchards, limiting
access to the orchards, and sanitation procedures that include
the use of clean clothing as well as clean tools, boxes
and vehicles of workers. Many of these sanitation procedures
are similar to those used to exclude citrus canker from
a citrus orchard.
The situation in California
California citrus growers need to know the distribution
of Brevipalpus species throughout the citrus growing areas of
the state as a first step toward developing effective control
strategies in the event that citrus leprosis becomes established.
A serious complicating factor is that there may be more
Brevipalpus species than have been described. Research in
A
B
C
Fig. 6. Ringspot symptoms on (A) ivy (Hedera sp.), (B) pittosporum
(Pittosporum tobira) and (C) Trachelospermum associated
with Brevipalpus-transmitted viruses (BTVs).
Honduras identified two different populations of B. phoenicis
on citrus. Both were morphologically identical. However,
molecular methods based on mitochondrial DNA COI fragments
placed them genetically apart, which implies that they
belong to two distinct species of mites. A similar situation
was found on Hibiscus in south Florida where one population
of B. phoenicis differed molecularly from others collected
on citrus throughout the state.
It is important to identify and monitor the existing Brevipalpus
mite fauna on citrus and on other associated horticultural
host plants and ornamentals in California, as well as in
other citrus producing states. It is also important to compare
these populations using molecular methods to identify potentially
cryptic species within the Brevipalpus mite populations.
These are not academic exercises but serious steps towards
optimizing efforts towards developing viable control
options. The ultimate objective is to determine which species
of Brevipalpus that occur in California are capable of vectoring
citrus leprosis.
The results of recent surveys (2002-2010) to identify the
November/December 2012 Citrograph 29

Brevipalpus mite complex in California using both morphological
and molecular methods will be reported in Parts II
and III in Citrograph. Factors that make Brevipalpus mites
potentially capable of being important crop pests and vectors
of citrus leprosis will be presented.
Further reading
Attaway, J. A. 1997. A history of Florida citrus freezes. Florida
Science Source, Inc., Lake Alfred, FL.
Bastianel, M., V. M. Novelli, E. W. Kitajima, K. S. Kubo, R
B. Bassenezi, M. A. Machado, and J. Freitas-Astua. 2010. Citrus
leprosis - Centennial of an unusual mite-virus pathosystem.
Plant Disease 94:284-292.
Childers, C. C., J. C. V. Rodrigues, K. S. Derrick, D. S. Achor,
J. V. French, W.C. Welbourn, R. Ochoa and E. W. Kitajima. 2003a.
Citrus leprosis and its status in Florida and Texas: past and present.
Experimental and Applied Acarology 30: 181-202.
Kitajima, E.W., J. C. V. Rodrigues, and J. Freitas-Astua. 2010.
An annotated list of ornamentals naturally found infected by
Brevipalpus mite-transmitted viruses. Scientia Agricola 67:348-
371.
Kitajima, E. W., C.M. Chagas, R. Harakava, R.F. Calegario,
J. Freitas-Astúa, J.C.V. Rodrigues, and C.C. Childers, C.C. 2011.
Citrus Leprosis in Florida, USA, appears to have been caused
by the Nuclear Type of Citrus Leprosis Virus (CiLV-N). Virus
Reviews & Research (online).
Knorr, L. C. 1968. Studies on the etiology of leprosis in citrus.
In: Pratt, R. M. (ed.). Proc. 4th Conf. Int. Org. Citrus Virologists,
IOCV. Gainesville. pp. 112-114.
Kondo, H., T. Maeda, Y. Shirako, and T. Tamada. 2006. Orchid
fleck virus is a rhabdovirus with an unusual bipartite genome.
Journal of General Virology 87:2413-2421.
Nunes, MA, Oliveira, CAL, Oliveira,ML, Kitajima,EW,
Hilf,ME, Gottwald, T, Dr. Freitas-Astua, J. 2012. Transmission
of Citrus leprosis virus C by Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes)
to alternative host plants found in citrus orchards. Plant Disease
(online)
Palmieri, M., I. Donis, A. L. Salazar, S. Blanco, M. Porres, R.
H. Brlansky, A. S. Guerra-Moreno, K. L. Manjunath, and R. F.
Lee. 2007. Leprosis in Guatemala. In: Hilf, M.E., N. Duran-Vila,
and M. A. Rocha-Pena (eds.). Proc. 16th Conf. Int. Org. Citrus
Virologists, IOCV. Riverside. p. 510.
Rodrigues, J.C.V., E. W. Kitajima, C.C. Childers, and C. M.
Chagas. 2003. Citrus leprosis virus vectored by Brevipalpus
phoenicis (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) on citrus in Brazil. Exp. Appl.
Acarol. 30:161-179.
Rodrigues, J.C.V., E.C. Locali, J. Freitas-Astua and E.W. Kitajima.
2005. Transmissibility of citrus leprosis virus by Brevipalpus
phoenicis to Solanum violaefolium. Plant Disease 89: 911.
Author contact information
UPR-Agricultural Experimental Station, Jardin Botanico
Sur, 1193 Calle Guayacan, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00926 USA,
jose_carlos@mac.com, 26 Wood Sorrel Lane, Hendersonville,
North Carolina 28792, ccc1957@ufl.edu.
Principal investigator Dr. Jose Carlos Verle Rodrigues is a
Virologist & Vector Biologist with the University of Puerto Rico
(Agricultural Experimental Station, Río Piedras). Co-PI Dr.
Carl C. Childers is an Emeritus Professor of Entomology/Acarology,
Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), University
of Florida. Dr. Beth Grafton- Cardwell is an Extension
Specialist and Research Entomologist, University of California
Riverside, and Dr. Joseph Morse is a Professor of Entomology,
UC Riverside. l
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30 Citrograph November/December 2012

November/December 2012 Citrograph 31

CRB Funded Research Reports
Research Project Final Report
Development of next-generation technologies
for the diagnosis and identification of
citrus viruses and viroids
Shou-Wei Ding, Ying Wang, Menji Cao, Vanitha Ramachandran, Peng Du, and Qingfa Wu
Emergence and re-emergence of plant pathogenic
viruses and viroids demand development of rapid
and efficient technologies for their detection and
identification.
In California, the quarantine disease testing and budwood
certification services provided by the Citrus Clonal
Protection Program (CCPP) have played a key role in protecting
the industry from pathogen dissemination. These
services typically employ serological and nucleic acid-based
techniques such as ELISA and PCR that are rapid and costeffective
for diagnostic purposes.
However, these techniques are less useful in the identification
of new viruses and viroids that share insufficient sequence
homology with the known isolates. For the detection
of about a dozen graft-transmissible citrus pathogens, CCPP
has to rely on biological indexing, which is time-consuming,
laborious, and costly.
For the last several years, research conducted in my lab
on host antiviral defense mechanisms has led to the development
of a new technology for the diagnosis and identification
of viruses and viroids.
Our approach involves computational analysis of the
sequences of the total small RNAs sequenced from the infected
plants because plant infection triggers production of
virus- and viroid-derived small RNAs by the host RNA silencing
machinery.
(RISC) to guide specific gene silencing by an Argonaute
protein (AGO) present in the complex.
Plant genomes encode multiple Dicer-like proteins
(DCLs), three of which participate in the biogenesis of siR-
NAs in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, yielding 21-,
22- and 24-nt size classes of endogenous siRNAs.
Since replication of the viral and viroid RNA genomes
generates dsRNA intermediates, abundant virus- and viroidderived
siRNAs accumulate in the infected plants as a host
defense response to infection (Figure 1A).
Genetic analysis in A. thaliana shows that siRNA-mediated
defense to RNA viruses is controlled by at least two
members of the DCL (DCL2 & DCL4), AGO (AGO1 &
AGO2) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDR1 &
RDR6) gene families (Ding, 2010). The host RDRs target viral
RNAs for de novo dsRNA synthesis, thereby amplifying
viral siRNAs (Figure 1A). However, less is known about the
genetic basis of the biogenesis and function of viroid-derived
siRNAs.
Virus discovery by deep sequencing and assembly of
viral siRNAs (vdSAR)
Analysis of total small RNAs 18 to 28 nucleotides in
length from virus-infected plants and invertebrates obtained
by next-generation sequencing platforms such as Illumina
Production of virus- and viroidderived
small RNAs in the infected
plants
In plants and animals, RNA silencing,
also known as RNA interference
(RNAi), serves as a conserved
mechanism (a mechanism that has not
changed over the millennia) to regulate
gene expression (Ding, 2010).
RNA silencing is triggered by long
double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Recognition
of long dsRNA by the Dicer
endoribonuclease leads to the production
of small interfering RNAs (siR-
NAs), which are incorporated into
an RNA-induced silencing complex
A
Viral siRNAs
Amplification by
RDR
Long viral dsRNAs
DCL
RISC
RISC-mediated antiviral activities
B
(+) Viral siRNAs
Viral dsRNA
(-) Viral siRNAs
Fig. 1. Key steps in RNAi-mediated antiviral
immunity in plants (A) and a diagram
showing the overlapping nature of virusderived
positive- and negative-strand siRNAs
processed from a viral dsRNA intermediate (B).
32 Citrograph November/December 2012

has revealed important properties of viral siRNAs produced
by the host immune system.
Viral siRNAs are of both the positive and negative polarities,
target the infecting viral RNA genomes at high densities,
and overlap one another in sequence (Figure 1B).
Therefore, these overlapping viral siRNAs can be assembled
into longer fragments (or contigs) corresponding
to the partial or complete viral RNA genomes by computational
algorithms such as Velvet and Vcake developed for
genome assembly from short reads.
We have shown that virus-specific contigs are readily
identified by searching the non-redundant nucleotide sequence
entries of the National Center for Biotechnology
Information (NCBI) database.
Based on these findings, we have developed a new approach
for virus detection diagnosis and identification referred
as vdSAR for virus discovery by deep sequencing and
assembly of viral siRNAs (Wu et al., 2010).
In this approach (Figure 2), briefly, total small RNAs
are isolated from a host, sequenced in a single Illumina lane,
and assembled into contigs by Velvet. Virus-specific contigs
are identified by searching NCBI databases both before and
after in silico translation using BLASTN and BLASTX, respectively,
and the complete genomes of the viruses identified
can subsequently be recovered by PCR and cloned. Use
of vdSAR led to the discovery of both known and new viruses
from plant and insect samples.
Viroid discovery using a new computational algorithm
Viroids, a distinct class of free circular RNA subviral
pathogens that do not encode protein, cause diseases in citrus.
Citrus exocortis viroid was among the first-discovered
viroids.
Identification of new viroids requires purification and
enrichment of the naked viroid RNA by two-dimensional
gel electrophoresis prior to cDNA synthesis and sequencing.
However, viroids generally occur at low concentrations
in the infected host, making viroid discovery a challenging
Citrus Leaf
Contigs
Nucleotide database (BlastN)
Small RNA reads
Assembly
Protein database (BlastX)
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Fig. 2. Schematic flow of virus discovery by deep sequencing
and assembly of virus-derived small RNAs. Once viral
sequences are identified, the complete viral genomes can
be recovered by reverse transcription – polymerase chain
reaction (RT-PCR) and the cloned virus genome assayed for
the infectivity in host plants.
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task for many plant pathology laboratories. This is probably
one of the reasons why less than 40 viroids from two families
have so far been identified, although viroids were first
discovered more than 40 years ago. Therefore, development
of a purification-independent deep sequencing-based approach
like vdSAR will likely facilitate viroid discovery.
We found that small RNAs derived from several known
viroids could be assembled into contigs by either Velvet or
Vcake, indicating that viroid sRNA sequences also overlap
as found previously for viral siRNAs.
However, the longest contig assembled for any of the viroids
using different parameters is much shorter than the full
length of the corresponding viroid, even though the entire
length of viroids is covered by siRNAs at high densities.
Our proof of concept studies demonstrate
that PFOR and vdSAR analysis of total small
RNAs obtained from a diseased tissue sample
in a single deep sequencing run will allow
simultaneous identification of the known and
new viruses and viroids, which is not possible
with any other approaches currently available.
We suspect that siRNAs derived from the highly heterogeneous
viroid population prevent the progressive assembly
of short contigs into the full-length viroid genome by the
available genome assembling programs.
This is because available assembling programs incorporate
the dominant nucleotide into a consensus sequence and
discard those reads containing a non-consensus nucleotide
at each step of assembly.
The short contigs assembled by Velvet and Vcake also
are not as informative for viroid discovery as virus discovery,
for which use of the peptide
sequences translated
in silico from the contigs
in database searches often
leads to the identification
of viruses only distantly related
to a known virus.
We recently developed
a new computational algorithm,
progressive filtering
of overlapping small RNAs
(PFOR), which specifically
identifies viroids in a homology-independent
manner
(Figure 3).
PFOR classifies overlapping
small RNAs in a
library into terminal small
RNAs (TSR) and internal
Terminal small
RNAs (TSRs)
Discard
Small RNAs Pool
Classify
Internal small
RNAs (ISRs)
Assembly
True ISRs
Fig. 3. Schematic flow of
viroid discovery by PFOR.
Recursion
34 Citrograph November/December 2012

small RNAs (ISR), which overlap at least one other small
RNA in the pool by at least 17 nucleotides at one and both
ends, respectively.
PFOR retains viroid-specific siRNAs for genome assembly
by progressively eliminating non-overlapping small
RNAs and those overlapping small RNAs that cannot be assembled
into a direct repeat RNA, which is synthesized from
circular or multimeric repeated-sequence templates during
viroid replication (Figure 3).
Dicer endoribonuclease is an enzyme required
for the formation of the RNA induced silencing complex
(RISC). It also cleaves double-stranded RNA
to produce short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which
target the selective destruction of complementary
RNAs.
Argonaute proteins (AGO) are a complex of
proteins responsible for gene silencing or RNA interference
(RNAi). They bind different classes of small
non-coding RNA’s.
We show that viroids from the two known families are
readily identified and their full-length sequences assembled
by PFOR from small RNAs sequenced from infected plants.
PFOR analysis of a grapevine small library identified a
viroid-like circular RNA of 375 nucleotides long that shares
no significant sequence homology with known molecules
and encodes active hammerhead ribozymes in RNAs of
both plus and minus polarities, which presumably self-cleave
to release monomer from multimeric replicative intermediates.
One manuscript describing the use of PFOR in viroid
discovery is in press (Wu et al., 2012).
Simultaneous identification of known and new viruses
and viroids in citrus
PFOR combined with vdSAR provides a powerful technology
for the diagnosis and identification of plant viruses
and viroids. Our proof of concept studies demonstrate that
PFOR and vdSAR analysis of total small RNAs obtained
from a diseased tissue sample in a single deep sequencing
run will allow simultaneous identification of the known and
new viruses and viroids, which is not possible with any other
approaches currently available.
We believe that implementation of vdSAR/PFOR-based
(1)virus and viroid discovery technology would enhance
the CCPP goal of efficient disease cataloging and thus facilitate
distributing disease-free citrus startup materials to the
industry.
We have isolated and sequenced the total small RNAs
from tissue samples of following graft-inoculation of citrus
plants affected by the following diseases and provided by Dr.
Georgios Vidalakis of UC Riverside: Yellow Vein, Vein Enation,
Concave gum, Cristocortis, Fatal Yellows, Foamy Bark
of Fukomoto, Bahia scale bark, and Leprosis.
It is likely that analysis of these diseased tissue samples
by vdSAR and PFOR will reveal if they are associated with
the infection of any known and/or new viruses and viroids.
Acknowledgements
This work has been funded by the California Citrus
Research Board (Project 5400-143) with a matching fund
from UC Discovery and National Institutes of Health RC-
1GM091896, and in the past by the USDA National Research
Initiative Grant 2007-01586.
Dr. Shou-Wei Ding is a Professor in the Department of
Plant Pathology and Microbiology, University of California,
Riverside. Qingfa Wu, Ying Wang, Vanitha Ramachandran,
Peng Du, and Menji Cao work in Dr. Ding’s lab. Dr. Ding
investigates the immune responses of model plant and animal
host organisms to virus infection and the viral counterdefenses
strategies and develops new approaches for the discovery
of viral and subviral pathogens.
CRB research project reference number 5400-143.
References
Ding SW, 2010. RNA-based antiviral immunity. Nat Rev
Immunol 10, 632-644.
Wu, Q., Luo, Y., Lu, R., Lau, N., Lai, E.C., Li, W.X., Ding,
S.W., 2010. Virus discovery by deep sequencing and assembly
of virus-derived small silencing RNAs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U
S A 107, 1606-1611.
Wu Q, Wang Y, Cao MJ, Pantaleo V, Burgyan J, Li WX
and Ding SW. (2012) Homology-Independent Discovery of
Replicating Pathogenic Circular RNAs by Deep Sequencing
and a New Computational Algorithm. Proc Natl Acad Sci U
S A 109 (In press). l
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CRB Funded Research Reports
Research Project Progress Report
Use of phosphite salts in laboratory and semicommercial
tests to control citrus postharvest decay
Joseph Smilanick, Luciana Cerioni, Viviana Rapisarda,
Julie Doctor, Nigel Grech, Starlyn Fikkert, Tarcisio Ruiz and Robert Fassel
Many growers of citrus fruit
and other crops often apply
phosphite or phosphorous
acid containing products before harvest
to protect fruit from postharvest decay
due to fungal pathogens.
Phosphite fungicides include calcium
or potassium phosphite salts, or
the phosphite-generating fungicide
fosetyl-aluminium (Aliette ® , Bayer
CropScience). Recently, two products
were also approved for postharvest use
in California (KPhos TM , Pace International,
Seattle, WA, and Fungi-Phite R ,
Plant Protectants Inc., Visalia, CA).
This article reviews some of our
work that evaluates the efficacy of
these products. A comprehensive description
of our work was recently accepted
for publication in a scientific
journal Plant Disease.
What are phosphites
Potassium or calcium phosphite
(or phosphonates) salts contain a less
oxidized form of phosphorous, and formulations
are available as fungicides,
fertilizers, or “defense stimulators”.
Their spectrum of fungicidal activity
includes Phytophthora and related
fungi in this group termed Oomycetes
or “water molds”, while control of fungi
in other groups is inconsistent and
little studied.
Some phosphite characteristics are
unusual or even mysterious, such as
their systemic mobility in both xylem
and phloem and their natural absence
in living higher organisms (although
are found in lower life forms).
Phosphites are found in low oxygen
and anaerobic environments as part of
the phosphorus cycling systems in soils
and marine environments. Phosphites
are generally believed as not being able
to supply phosphorus directly to plants
and require oxidation prior to metabolic
incorporation.
Recent studies have shown that
the microbial communities of soils possess
the ability to oxidize phosphite to
phosphate. The widespread occurrence
of phosphate oxidative mechanisms in
soils bestow on phosphate-containing
agrichemical products an excellent environmental
fate profile.
The phosphite anion is unstable and
oxidizes in air. However, in stabilized
formulations, when applied to plants,
it is rapidly taken up by plant foliar tissues
and is very mobile within the plant.
Although foliar phosphite applications
have been shown to increase
flower numbers, alter fruit size, and
increase yields on many crops includ-
Fig. 1. Green mold (right) and blue
mold (left), caused by Penicillium
digitatum and P. italicum, respectively,
are the most important postharvest
diseases of citrus fruits in arid regions
worldwide. Green mold prefers warmer
temperatures and is green in color with
a large white margin around the lesion,
while blue prefers cooler temperatures
and is blue-green in color with much
thinner white margin. Combined, they
cause most decay during storage and
marketing, except during warm, rainy
periods when brown rot and sour rot
can also be important.
ing Valencia oranges, controversy exists
as to their use as fertilizers. Phosphites
are defined and recognized by
the American Association of Plant and
Food Control Officials as fertilizers, but
since their use can also impact plant
pathogens as well as mitigating abiotic
stresses, these other mechanisms can
contribute to the crop responses observed
after their use.
What are the reasons to use
phosphites before or after harvest
A compelling reason to use phosphites
is to control brown rot, caused by
several species of Phytophthora, which
can be a serious problem in warm, wet
years. Applications of relatively low
phosphite concentrations inhibit the
growth of Oomycetes (Phytophthora,
Plasmopara, Pythium spp. and others)
under laboratory conditions, and
therefore, use of phosphite products
to control Phytophthora brown rot is
valuable to citrus growers in diseaseconducive
years.
The phosphite-generating fungicide
fosetyl-aluminium has long been
known to control these fungi effectively.
More recently, Adaskaveg and
coworkers at UC Riverside showed
preharvest phosphite applications provide
excellent control of brown rot,
caused most often by Phytophthora
citrophthora or P. parasitica, for up to
12 weeks after application. Other fungicides,
such as a mixture of fludioxonil
and azoxystrobin (Graduate A+,
Syngenta), also protected fruit from
subsequent infection, but unlike phosphite,
they could not stop infections
that had already started. A postharvest
phosphite treatment, that consisted of
dipping fruit in 0.27 grams per liter of
potassium phosphite, prevented brown
36 Citrograph November/December 2012

ot from developing on fruit inoculated
15 hours earlier. Once infection had occurred,
only this treatment was effective
among those he evaluated.
In older work, it was shown by Leo
Klotz and others that passage of the
fruit through heated soak tanks also
controlled pre-existing brown rot infections,
but this was accompanied by
some risk of injury to the fruit.
Control of fungi other than the
Oomycetes by phosphites was the primary
purpose of our work. The most
important postharvest diseases in California
are Penicillium digitatum and
P. italicum that cause green and blue
molds, respectively. Calcium and potassium
phosphite solutions were compared
to other common salts by immersing
fruit that had been inoculated
with spores of these fungi the previous
day into solutions containing 20 grams
per liter of each salt; sodium carbonate,
sodium bicarbonate, potassium phosphite,
potassium sorbate, and calcium
phosphite (Table 1).
The phosphites compared well to
sodium bicarbonate or soda ash, and
the level of control improved when the
solutions were heated to 120 o F.
Currently, approved and common
treatments applied on packing lines
to control green or blue mold include
imazalil, thiabendazole, pyrimethanil,
azoxystrobin, and fludioxonil. We
found potassium phosphite was compatible
with all of these fungicides and
improved their performance significantly
(Figure 1). Some packing lines
include soak tank treatments of soda
ash or sodium bicarbonate. In other
work, we found combinations of sodium
bicarbonate and potassium phosphite,
both at a concentration of 1%,
were compatible and additive in action
to control green mold.
Another disease of concern in
California is sour rot, caused by Geotrichum
citri-aurantii. When used in
heated tanks, phosphites partially controlled
sour rot, and were about equal
to sodium bicarbonate for this purpose.
Control of imazalil-resistant spores
of P. digitatum is of concern in most
packinghouses, since these have been
common for many years in California.
In our research experiments, we used
an isolate of P. digitatum that is highly
resistant to imazalil.
When used alone, a relatively low
rate of potassium phosphite of 4 grams
per liter was only partially effective.
However, when used in combinations,
potassium phosphite improved the effectiveness
of the imazalil significantly,
and even better control resulted when
pyrimethanil was added to the mixture
(Table 2).
Hydrogen peroxide is a common
and inexpensive liquid sanitizer used
for many food-processing applications;
it is odorless and decomposes to water
and oxygen. We have found in prior
tests it can partially control green and
blue mold but should be followed by a
Table 1. Green mold and blue mold incidence among lemons inoculated with P. digitatum
or P. italicum 24 hours before treatment. Four replicates of 27 fruit each were
prepared for each treatment. The fruit were immersed for 1 min. in 77 o or 122 o F salt
solutions at 20 grams per liter followed by storage for 1 week at 68 o F.
Table 2. Green mold incidence among lemons that had been inoculated 24 hours before
treatment with spores of an imazalil-resistant isolate of P. digitatum. Six replicates
of 27 fruit each were prepared for each treatment. The fruit was immersed for
20 seconds in each solution, heated to 113 o F. The fruit were not rinsed after treatment,
stored at 68 o F, and the number of infections counted after 13 days.
Treatments
Untreated control
Water treated
Potassium phosphite 4 grams per liter
Imazalil fungicide 500 parts per million
Potassium phosphite + imazalil
Pyrimethanil fungicide 250 parts per million
Potassium phosphite + imazalil + pyrimethanil
Green mold incidence (%)* Blue mold incidence (%)*
Treatment 77 o F 122 o F 77 o F 122 o F
Water Control 100.0 a 58.3 a 32.1 ab 23.8 a
Sodium carbonate 53.3 cd 35.7 ab 21.9 bc 7.1 bc
Sodium bicarbonate 38.1 cde 32.1 ab 22.6 bc 15.5 abc
Potassium phosphite 59.5 c 16.7 bc 15.5 bc 2.4 bc
Potassium sorbate 23.8 e 6.0 c 7.1 c 3.6 bc
Calcium phosphite 35.7 de 4.8 c 6.0 c 1.0 c
* Unlike letters within columns indicate values were significantly different with 95% confidence.
Green mold incidence (%)x
94 a
82 a
32 b
20 c
8 d
16 c
5 e
* Unlike letters within columns indicate values were significantly different with 95% confidence.
Table 3. Green and blue mold incidence among lemons that had been inoculated 24
hours before treatment with spores of P. digitatum and P. italicum. Five replicates
of 20 fruit each were prepared for each treatment. The fruit was immersed for 60
seconds in a solution of hydrogen peroxide (2% vol/vol) containing copper sulfate (1
gram per liter). In some cases, this was followed by a second treatment of 60 seconds
immersion in solutions of potassium phosphite (20 grams per liter) or sodium bicarbonate
(20 grams per liter). The fruit were not rinsed after treatment, stored at 68 o F
and the number of infections counted after 7 days.
Treatments Green mold incidence (%)* Blue mold incidence (%)*
Water control 100 a 94 a
Hydrogen peroxide 60 b 48 bc
Sodium bicarbonate 45 b 40 b
Hydrogen peroxide Sodium bicarbonate 15 c 13 de
Potassium phosphite 16 c 7 e
Hydrogen peroxide Potassium phosphite 1 d 0 f
Imazalil 0 d 0 b
* Unlike letters within columns indicate values were significantly different with 95% confidence.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 37

second treatment, such as sodium bicarbonate,
to maximize its effectiveness.
In an attempt to improve phosphite
efficacy, we tried a sequence of
treatments in which the fruit was first
immersed in cool (68 o F) hydrogen peroxide
plus copper sulfate, then passed
through a second treatment of either
potassium phosphite or sodium bicarbonate
at 77 o F (Table 3).
This sequence of treatments
matched imazalil in effectiveness.
READERS PLEASE NOTE: This was
an entirely experimental treatment –
large-scale testing has not been done,
and the regulatory aspects of using hydrogen
peroxide in this manner need
investigation before it could be implemented
commercially.
Concerns about how fungicides
may impact human and environmental
health and the widespread occurrence
of fungicide-resistant isolates of P. digitatum
have stimulated the search for
alternative treatments. A treatment in
use for more than 75 years is soda ash/
sodium bicarbonate (SBC).
Used alone, SBC partially controls
green and blue molds and sour rot of
citrus fruit. The addition of SBC to
fungicide solutions improves fungicide
performance without using them at
higher rates. As a result, costs decrease,
control of fungicide-resistant isolates
of P. digitatum is improved, and chances
of exceeding fungicide residue tolerances
is minimized.
SBC can be used in sequence with
other treatments, such as biological control
or hot water, to improve their efficacy.
SBC is relatively inexpensive, approved
for use for organic growers, and
its residues are exempt from regulation.
However, disposal of SBC raises
regulatory issues in some locations because
of its high electrical conductivity,
high pH, and sodium content. All three
factors can make disposal of used solutions
difficult.
SBC provides only partial control
of sour rot and probably has no activity
on brown rot. Therefore, compounds
that could improve fungicide performance
as SBC does would be valuable.
We found the phosphite salts solve
many of these problems; they were
similar to SBC in effectiveness for the
control of green and blue molds and
sour rot, and add the benefit of excellent
brown rot control.
The influence of fruit storage temperature
after treatment was examined,
and the efficacy of phosphite was
at times much better if the fruit was
stored at 50 o F as compared to 68 o F.
Phosphite caused no visible injuries or
Fig. 2. Notice the infected fruit both hanging on this Atwood navel orange tree
and piled on the ground around it. Most of the crop of this tree has been lost
to a combination of brown rot and green mold. This picture was taken in Tulare
County in late December of 2010 following a warm, rainy period.
alteration in the rate of color change of
citrus fruit either in air or under conditions
of 5 parts per million ethylene
at 68 o F. Calcium phosphite can leave
a visible powder residue on fruit, so a
brief post-treatment rinse is needed. A
brief rinse after treatment did not reduce
phosphite effectiveness.
Environmental, residue, and
regulatory aspects
Phosphites do not contain sodium
and their pH is neutral, which eliminates
two important water quality
problems of SBC. Phosphites are synthesized,
however, so the formulations
in use now are not approved for organic
grower use, and their price is higher
than SBC. Soil disposal of used phosphite
solutions is feasible since many
phosphite products are registered as
fertilizers.
In other work, we measured phosphite
residues in fruit, and they did not
change during storage for three weeks.
Although two companies have phosphite
products registered in California,
before these or any fungicides are applied,
users should confirm the residues
will be accepted by buyers and importing
countries; US residue tolerances
are not accepted worldwide.
The most compelling reason to
use phosphites remains the control of
brown rot in the warm, wet years when
this disease is a problem; however, another
reason to use them is their contribution
to the control of other pathogens
as well.
However, to control these other
fungi much higher phosphite rates are
needed than those that control brown
rot. The registration of these phosphite-containing
products provides the
industry an additional tool to manage
postharvest decay of citrus fruit.
Mention of trade names or commercial
products in this report is solely for
the purpose of providing specific information
and does not imply recommendation
or endorsement by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. USDA is an equal
opportunity employer.
Project Leader Joseph Smilanick
is a research plant pathologist in the
Commodity Protection and Quality Research
Unit at the San Joaquin Valley
Agricultural Sciences Center, USDA-
ARS, Parlier, CA. Dr. Luciana Cerioni
was a visiting scientist at the SJVASC
and returned to the Instituto Superior
38 Citrograph November/December 2012

Phosphoric acid
Phosphorus
Necessary for plants and all life
Fertilizer component, no
fungicide properties
Valence = 5+
Accepts 5 electrons
Phosphorous acid
Phosphite
Occurs in nature but rare
Fungicide properties
Not a plant nutrient unless
reduced by soil bacteria or
chemically to phosphoric acid
Valence = 3+
Accepts 3 electrons
Fig. 3. A comparison of the phosphites (or phosphorous acid) and phosphorous.
de Investigaciones Biológicas – INSI-
BIO (CONICET-UNT), Tucumán, Argentina,
where Dr. Viviana Rapisarda
also resides and where some of the work
described here was done.
Several postharvest service company
personnel contributed significant
ideas, labor, and materials to this work,
including Julie Doctor of FGS Packing
Services, Exeter, CA; Starlyn Fikkert
and Nigel Grech of Plant Protectants,
Inc., Visalia, CA; and Tarcisio Ruiz,
and Robert Fassel of Pace International
Co., Seattle, WA.
CRB research project reference
number 5400-106
Additional information
Adams F., and Conrad, J.P. 1953.
Transition of phosphite to phosphate in
soils. Soil Sci. 75:361-371.
Adaskaveg, J. E. 2009. Management
of Citrus Brown Rot. http://
www.calcitrusquality.org/wp-content/
uploads/2009/05/Citrus-Brown-Rot-
JA-9-29-11.pdf
Afek, U., and Sztejnberg, A. 1989.
Effects of Fosetyl-Al and phosphorous
acid on scoparone, a phytoalexin associated
with resistance of citrus to Phytophthora
citrophthora. Phytopathology
79:736-739.
Albrigo, L. G. 1999. Effects of foliar
applications of urea or nutriphite on
flowering and yields of Valencia orange
trees. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 112:l-4.
Amiri, A. and Bompeix, G. 2011.
Control of Penicillium expansum with
potassium phosphite and heat treatment.
Crop Prot. 30:222-227.
Brown, G. E. 1992. Evaluation of
iprodione and fosetyl-Al and other fungicides
for postharvest citrus decay control.
Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 105:131-
134.
Coffey, M. D., and Joseph, M. C. 1985.
Effects of phosphorous acid and fosetyl-
Al on the life cycle of Phytophthora cinnamomi
and P. citricola. Phytopathology
75:1042-1046.
Cohen, Y. and Coffey, M. D. 1986.
Systemic fungicides and the control of
Oomycetes. Ann. Rev. Phytopathology
24:311- 338.
Cohen, E., Shalom, Y., Axelrod, Y.,
Adato, I., and Rosenberger, I. 1987. Control
and prevention of contact infection
of brown rot disease with fosetyl-aluminium,
and residue levels in post-harvesttreated
citrus fruit. Pest. Sci. 20:83-91.
Dercks, W., and Buchenauer, H. 1987.
Comparative studies on the mode of action
of aluminum ethyl phosphite in four
Phytophthora species. Crop Prot. 6:82-89.
Dore, A., Molinu, M. G.,Venditti,
T., and D’hallewin, G. 2010. Sodium bicarbonate
induces crystalline wax generation,
activates host-resistance, and
increases imazalil level in rind wounds
of oranges, improving the control of
green mold during storage. J. Agric. Food
Chem. 58:7297–7304.
Dunhill, R. H. 1990. The manufacture
and properties of phosphonic (phosphorous)
acid. Aust. Plant Pathol. 19:138-
139. Griffin, D. H. 1981. Fungal Physiology.
Wiley-Interscience, John Wiley and
Sons, New York.
Guest, D.I. 1984. Modification of
defense response in tobacco and capsicum
following treatment with Fosetyl-Al
[Aluminum tris (o-ethyl phosphonate)].
Phys. Mol. Plant Pathol. 19:113-115.
Guest, D. I., and Bompeix, G. 1990.
The complex mode of action of phosphonates.
Aust. Plant Pathol. 19:113-115.
Guest, D. I., and Grant, B. R. 1991.
The complex action of phosphonates as
antifungal agents. Biol. Rev. 66:159-187.
Gutter, Y. 1983. Supplementary antimold
activity of phosethyl Al, a new
brown rot fungicide for citrus fruits. Phytopathology
Z. 107:301-308. Klotz, L.J.,
and DeWolfe, T.A. 1961. Brown rot contact
infection of citrus fruits prior to hot
water treatment. Plant Dis. Rep. 45:268-
271.
Landschoot, P. and Cook, J. 2005.
Understanding the phosphonates products.
Department of Crop and Soil Sci-
November/December 2012 Citrograph 39

CITRUS – AVOCADOS – OLIVES
100
80
60
40
20
0
Control KP IMZ TBZ PYR FLUD + AZO
500 mg/liter 25 mg/liter 25 mg/liter 20 mg/liter
Fig. 4. Green mold incidence among lemons after they were immersed for 30
seconds in 77 o F solutions of the fungicides imazalil (IMZ), thiabendazole (TBZ),
pyrimathanil (PYR), or a mixture of fludioxonil + azoxystrobin at the rates
indicated. They were applied in water alone (green columns) or with potassium
phosphite (orange columns). The fruit were not rinsed after treatment and stored
17 days at 50 o F. Values are the means of four replicates of 27 fruit each. Unlike
letters indicate a significant difference was present with 95% confidence.
ences, The Pennsylvania State University,
University Park, PA. On line publication.
http://cropsoil.psu.edu/turf/extension/
factsheets/phosphonate-products
Leymonie, J. P. 2007. Phosphites and
Phosphates: When distributors and growers
alike could get confused! New AgInt.
36-42.
Lovatt, C.J. and Mikkelsen, R.L.
2006. Phosphite Fertilizers: What Are
They Can You Use Them What Can
They Do Better Crops 90:11-13.
Martin, H., Grant, B. R., and Stehmann,
C. 1998. Inhibition of inorganic pyrophosphatase
by phosphonate. A site of
action on Phytophthora spp. Pest. Bioch.
Physiol. 61:65-77.
McDonald, A. E., Grant, B., and Plaxton,
W. C. 2001. Phosphite (phosphorous
acid): Its relevance in the environment
and agriculture and influence on plant
phosphate starvation response. J. Plant
Nutr.24:1505-1519.
Palou, L., Smilanick, J.L., Usall, J.,
and Viñas, I. 2001. Control of postharvest
blue and green molds of oranges by hot
water, sodium carbonate, and sodium bicarbonate.
Plant Dis. 85:371–376.
Roos, G. H. P., Loane, C., Dell, B. and
Hardy, G. E. S. J. 1999. Facile high performance
ion chromatographic analysis
of phosphite and phosphate in plant
samples. Comun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.
30:2323-2329.
Rosenberger, D. A., Meyer, F. W., and
Rugh, A. L. 2008.Effectiveness of Pro-
Phyt used alone or with Captan, Topsin
M, or Pristine to control summer diseases
of apples. PF010 Plant Dis. Man. Rep.
3:1-3.
Schirra, M., D’Aquino, S., Cabras, P.,
and Angioni, A. 2011. Control of postharvest
diseases of fruit by heat and fungicides:
efficacy, residue levels, and residue
persistence. A Review. J. Agric. Food
Chem. 59:8531-8542.
Smilanick, J.L., Brown, G.E., and
Eckert, J.W. 2006. Postharvest citrus dis-
A
In water alone
+ K phosphate
4 g/liter
A A A
B B B B
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
eases and their control. Pages 339–396
in: Fresh Citrus Fruits, Second ed. W.F.
Wardowski, Miller, W.M. Hall, D.J. and
Grierson, W. eds. Florida Science Source,
Inc., Longboat Key, FL, USA.
Smillie, R., Grant, B. R., and Guest,
D. 1989. The mode of action of phosphite:
evidence for both direct and indirect
modes of action of three Phytophthora
spp. in plants. Phytopathology
79:921-925.
Thao, H. T. B., and Yamakawa, T.
2009. Phosphite (phosphorous acid):
Fungicide, fertilizer or bio-stimulator
Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. 55:228-234.
US EPA. 2006. Title 40: Protection of
Environment, Part 180. Code of Federal
Reg. 71:49373. l
President Position
The Citrus Research Program in California is the grower-funded
and grower-directed program established under the California Marketing
Act as the mechanism enabling the state’s citrus producers to
sponsor and support needed research. The program is administered
by the Citrus Research Board (CRB).
The CRB is seeking a new President. Reports to a Board of
Grower Representatives & Secretary of the Department of Food and
Agriculture through the Marketing Branch. Contact Oliver Search
Consulting, attention Jeff Oliver, jeff@oliversc.com.
40 Citrograph November/December 2012

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Citrus Roots
Preserving Citrus Heritage Foundation
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interesting and engaging...
Please Support Your
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are down and we are
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First Commercial
Three-Phase
Power Plant
In 1893, world history was
again made in the citrus area
of San Bernardino County…
Richard H. Barker
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The views of the writer may not be the same as this foundation.
We continue our story from where we left off in the
May/June 2012 issue. Dr. Baldwin’s progress was
watched closely by many, and it was especially
watched by William G. Kerckhoff and a group from Redlands.
The success of SAL&P Co. motivated the engineer Harry
H. Sinclair to step up the campaign regarding building a hydroelectric
plant in Mill Creek. In 1892,
he organized Redlands Electric Light &
Power Company to power the city with
streetlights and also to power the emerging
citrus packers.
By 1893, they had scraped together
about $10,000 as capital, but this was
an inadequate amount, and what made
Harry H. Sinclair
Henry Fisher
their effort even more difficult was the
fact that it occurred in the middle of the
Panic of 1893.
Taking an excerpt from the book
California Yankee by Carol Green Wilson
(her uncle was William R. Staats of Pasadena,
a broker of real estate and founder
of the regional investment houses under
his name):
“...H. Sinclair... after strenuous campaigning
in Los Angeles and then San
Francisco, finally gave up and wired down
to his colleagues, ‘Cannot place bonds,
must abandon proposition.’ But a slow letter had been trailing
along from Pittsburgh to which the Henry Fisher family
had returned.
“Unaware of any hurry ... Fisher (a pioneer in oil pipelines
from Pennsylvania) had written instead of wiring his fa-
42 Citrograph November/December 2012

vorable answer to their appeal. Receiving this good news on
the very day that Sinclair’s discouraged message came down
from San Francisco, Fulton G. Feraud, the Secretary of the
Redlands Company, jovially wired back, ‘Come home, you
damned fool. Fisher takes bonds’.”
With their funding in hand, they planned to build a
hydroelectric plant on the Mill Creek. Impressed with the
inventiveness of Almarian Decker,
they engaged him to design their plant
because of the excellent work he had
done for SAL&P Co. The specifications
were identical to what he had given
Baldwin -- calling for three-phase, etc.
The Mill Creek hydro plant was
started in late 1892. A division dam
was constructed less than two miles
above the powerhouse, and a 30-inch
Almarian Decker
steel pipe was installed through a tunnel
which was said to be over 7,250 feet
long with a capacity of 2,000 miner inches.
Sinclair had approached the Thomson-Houston Company
(a predecessor to the present General Electric Company)
only to encounter the same rebuff as given by Westinghouse
to Baldwin. Sinclair had enough firmness, and persuasiveness,
to secure a promise to build per the specifications
Decker called out which included three-phase.
On the historic day, September 7, 1893, all work went as
planned. This was the first commercial three-phase alternating
current power plant in the world!
Dr. Louis Bell of the new General Electric was on site
to work out some synchronizing operational problems of
the two units. He had developed a device nicknamed “the
growler” because of the noise it generated. These two new
generators could operate electric motors without the need
for constant attention.
The three-phase motors were self-synchronizing and
could be independently started or stopped. The three-phase,
alternating current technology delivered a much smoother
power torque to machinery and was more energy efficient
(than the single-phase AC system). As early as 1894, electric
motors were being placed in use.
(Almarian Decker died from tuberculosis at a young age
on August 3, 1893, before the Mill Creek plant was completed,
and he never saw the benefits of his far-reaching engineering
design work. The world owes him greater recognition!)
Then a pleasant surprise occurred to their proposed
business plan. A demand was received from the Union Ice
Company Plant #2, as mentioned in Carol Green Wilson’s
book, California Yankee. This was reported to be the first
recorded commercial buyer of hydroelectric power in the
United States.
The Union Ice Company Plant #2 (see photo) was located
on the west edge of Crafton, about four-plus miles
from the Mill Creek Plant #1. Dr. James E. Lancaster, Ph.D.,
of the group Historical Packinghouses and other Industrial
Structures in Southern California, cited the position where
the Southern Pacific turned east into Crafton and the Santa
Fe turned northeast to Mentone. Union Ice Co. #2.
Mill Creek Hydroelectric Plant interior. The two original
three-phase generators first produced energy on September
7, 1893. The third generator was later received and is shown
in the back. Due to a drought, this generator was powered
by steam.
Mill Creek Hydroelectric Plant (circa 1905).
This 200 HP motor drove the ice plant. Previous plants were
powered by steam generated from the burning of wood.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 43

The Southern Pacific had a siding into the plant on the
south side. The Santa Fe had a siding coming in from the
north. The Union Ice Company of Los Angeles discovered
that they could pay $2.00 a ton freight on 7,000 tons of ice
manufactured at the Mentone plant and still deliver it to Los
Angeles at a cost of fifty cents a ton cheaper than if manufactured
on their site because of the low cost hydro-electrical
power. They had previously experienced this from purchasing
ice from Kerckhoff’s Azusa Ice and Cold Storage Company
(citrus packers also located packinghouses near the ice plant).
Now, returning to when they originally built the plant,
you will remember that they installed a 30-inch steel pipeline
or penstock. From the viewpoint of water efficiency, this
steel pipeline removed the possibility of percolation into the
soil and evaporation. To their great surprise, this was the rea-
son for a suit brought by Mentone Irrigation Company. The
latter was formed in 1887; a tunnel was dug to capture the
percolation, and two springs had been tapped. They had effectively
been proactive in obtaining the underground water
movement of the Mill Creek channel.
The Mentone Irrigation Company sued the Redlands
Electric Light and Power Company, claiming that the confining
of the Mill Creek water to a steel pipeline prevented the
saturation of the soil and removed the replenishment of the
underground water. This case was decided in 1903. The power
company, as a riparian proprietor, was only exercising its
rights of taking the water of Mill Creek from the stream and
returning the same water again undiminished in quantity or
quality. The underground water developer had no redress.
This case opened up more opportunities for the power
Mill Creek #3 under construction.
This 1909 photo shows the raceway flume for Mill Creek #3.
Management and office staff are shown in front of the Redlands Electric Light and Power Company (about 1898) and
Southern California Power Company.
44 Citrograph November/December 2012

Interior of Redlands Orange Producers packinghouse. They were an early customer of Mill Creek’s electricity. (Note arc
lighting and electric-powered conveyor belts.)
Upland Citrus Association (great photo!) showing hearty wholesomeness. The two men seated at the top with backs mainly
to the camera are providing the sizing machine its power – treadle foot power! (circa 1905).
46 Citrograph November/December 2012

Volume I of III
Including a fold out
time line chart of
by Marie A. Boyd and Richard H. Barker
Volume III of III
$ 15 00
interests. They proceeded to further
develop the electric power potentials
of Mill Creek. They built Mill
Creek Plant #2, and this was completed
in 1898 upstream from Plant
#1. The water from this powerhouse
was furnished by taking the water
out of Mill Creek at its junction with
Mountain Home stream and conveying
it by flume and penstock to
the turbines.
As soon as #2 was finished,
another canal was built diverting
Mill Creek water just below Forest
Home, and it was conveyed by still
another flume and penstock to #3
unit. The turbines and generators
for #2 and #3 were all in the same
building – thus, only enlarging the
building and creating a savings. Santa Ana #1 (circa 1899).
If Mill Creek did not have enough
litigation, another suit was filed in June 1899. This time, it was equipment required by citrus packers, water pumps and other
users -- the supply capacity did not come close to an equi-
the people of Crafton against the people of Mill Creek. It was
known as the Barton Land and Water Company et al vs.G. W. librium. The capacity from their multiple plants to generate
Tyler et al. We will not get into this, only to point out that this electrical power was totally in excess.
case was largely fought by the Southern Pacific Railroad as it The Edison Electric (EEC) in Los Angeles had the exact
held ownership of each alternating section of land in the Mill opposite problem. The two met, although the distances and
Creek watershed
how to deliver at first was thought to be unsolvable. Eightysome
miles apart was far in advance of anything thus far at-
Just in passing, but another interesting development,
Crafton Water Company had a well dug and installed a tempted. On the financial side, Edison Electric did not have
pump on this successful well. The Redlands Light and Power
Company furnished free power and the water from the and the latter did not have the capital to purchase the eighty-
the funds to purchase Southern California Power Company,
well, working together, increased the flow to #1 and #2 generating
plants.
tors and transformers.
some mile right-of-way not to mention the needed genera-
Sinclair and Fisher started another company under the Sinclair and O. H. Ensign, Chief Engineer of Southern
name of Southern California Power Company, and they California Power Company, put their engineering heads together
and came up with the unheard-of plan of transmis-
set out to build a hydroelectric plant in the area where Alder
Creek and Keller Creek flow into the Santa Ana River sion delivery some 83 miles distant. O. H. Ensign also wrote
(about 12 miles from Redlands and referred to as Santa history regarding the insulator design work. As they sought
Ana River #1). It has been said that 18 tunnels in total were answers, the questions of connection and distance were
required to be dug, and a 30- inch steel pipeline exceeding solved by the Southern Pacific Company, allowing poles to
2,210 feet was set.
be placed along their tracks.
As it turned out, the demand from users -- including the In June 1898, the Southern California Power Company
additional placement of electric motors to power the new was purchased through a stock transaction by Edison Elec-
Citrus Roots Series...
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Citrus Powered the Economy of Orange County
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Citrus Roots...Our Legacy - Volume I
Selling the Gold - History of Sunkist®
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Citrus Roots...Our Legacy - Volume II
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November/December 2012 Citrograph 47

tric Company. (The EEC became Southern California Edison
in 1909.) Work was started on an 83-mile transmission
power line from the Santa Ana River #1 hydroelectric plant
to the Edison’s Substation #1 in Los Angeles. In February
1899, this line was energized at 33,000 volts!
So, in a duration of about seven years, the industry had
earned another chronicle of distinction as witnessed by the
emerging citrus-growing region. This was truly a quantum
leap accomplishment when one compares this 33,000 volts
to Dr. Baldwin’s 10,000 volt transmission (or 29 miles to San
Bernardino compared to 83 miles). The Inland Empire and
Southern California were again the “mainspring” in the development
of the worldwide electrical utility system.
SAR 33kV line to L.A.
And so it comes about that Dr. Cyrus Baldwin, the first
president of Pomona College, sold his idea to the people of
deriving power from the rushing creek. He sought help from
his friend Almarian William Decker. It is the latter gentleman
to whom the world owes so much, yet so few recognize
his name as earlier mentioned. His brilliant mind perceived
and understood the previous experiments and sought their
useful, practical application. He brought the explications together
to the status of functionality. A job well done, and
the world is indebted to him through: (1) long-distance, commercial
high-voltage electric transmission, and (2) introducing
the usage of three-phase alternating current which became
universally employed.
New electric motors were synchronous, with ease in
starting, stopping, and restarting. As we have read, the electric
motor modernized the citrus packinghouses. Electric
motors quietly powered water pumps and wells instead of
the extremely loud petroleum-powered engines. Additionally,
ice plants were located where needed and not on the
banks of streams, etc.
As mentioned earlier, Decker was in his prime of life at
about 41 when tuberculosis took this brilliant mind. As we
close this story in honor of Almarian W. Decker, we should
not forget the other parts of the story -- the roles of Dr.
Cyrus Baldwin, J. Albert Dole, William G. Kerckhoff, Henry
Fisher, Harry H. Sinclair and the citrus community at large,
which made these accomplishments and enterprises a reality.
This story is another example of working together which had
a huge worldwide beneficial effect in past, present and future
generations.
In the coming months, in this Citrograph section, we
will acquaint ourselves with the huge San Joaquin Light and
Power Corporation founded by William G. Kerckhoff. His
company grew from Fresno covering an immense area, serving
six million acres, even providing electric power to Fresno,
San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Monterey Counties.
His company benefited the people by serving agricultural,
commercial, industrial, governmental and residential
demands. The San Joaquin Valley could never have attained
its great productivity without the investment made by his
company in providing low cost electric power. From starting
in 1903 to 1931, gross earnings grew by almost 100%.
William G. Kerckhoff leaves a compelling powerful
story! He never failed, and his “word was his bond.” The
binding agreement he made was based on honesty endorsed
by a handshake! This is only one part of the story, for he
founded Southern California Gas Company and more. The
Kerckhoff’s philanthropy left in 1929 is still helping society
through UCLA, Caltech, USC, and two medical facilities in
Germany. This is truly a persuasive story of assisting countless
generations from his success!
Richard H. Barker is the founder and president of the
Citrus Roots-Preserving Citrus Heritage Foundation. For a
number of years, he has been leading a drive to bring about
a higher awareness of the role citrus played in developing
California. Dick is a retired investment banker and was
a third generation Sunkist grower. He has published four
volumes on citrus heritage.
The author wishes to credit the following: Special Collections,
Honnold/Mudd Library of The Claremont Colleges;
The Huntington Library, San Marino; the Sherman Library
and Gardens, Corona del Mar; and the Edison Collection
(SCE). l
Kerckhoff
biography
available
This biography of William
G. Kerchoff written
in 1935 by Henry
W. O’Melveny, the
founder of what is
now the oldest law
firm in Los Angeles
(O’Melveny & Myers LLC) has been reprinted by
Richard Barker by permission of the O’Melveny
family.
Copies are available from the Foundation for just
$15.00. Download the order form at www.citrusroots.com/books.html.
48 Citrograph November/December 2012

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Salter Award goes
to IPM researcher
Joseph Morse
To be chosen for the Albert G. Salter
Memorial Award is a singular
honor, and for 2012 that honor belongs
to research entomologist Dr. Joseph G.
Morse.
The Salter Award is presented annually
by the California Citrus Quality
Council to salute an individual who has
made outstanding and substantive contributions
to the industry while demonstrating
uncommon dedication and
commitment.
Morse was recognized Oct. 10 during
the California Citrus Conference in
Porterville. The presentation was made
by CCQC board member Bob Elliott on
behalf of his colleagues.
The inscription on the plaque reads:
“ In recognition of his steadfast dedication
in the field of entomology, which
has contributed vitally to the California
citrus industry.
“For over three decades Dr. Morse
has provided timely research results and
valuable educational resources to California
citrus growers and pest control
advisors that have enabled the continued
economic well-being of the citrus industry.
His extensive efforts in studying the
control of citrus thrips, a primary pest of
concern to the industry,
has led to the registration
of new materials
needed for its management
as well as a continued
search for nonchemical
alternatives.
“Dr. Morse has focused much of his
efforts on pests of quarantine concern
in export markets, which are critical to
the economic viability of the industry.
His field studies and publications on
Fuller rose beetle are vital as this pest
continues to threaten the industry’s access
to essential markets.
“Accomplished researcher, educator
and administrator, his continued
contributions have earned Joe Morse
the appreciation and gratitude of the
citrus growers of California.”
Dr. Morse is Professor of Entomology
at the University of California Riverside,
where he joined the faculty in 1981.
He describes his work as being focused
on “contributing to the evolution of citrus
and avocado pest management in
California towards a more integrated approach
emphasizing increased monitoring
activity, use of economic thresholds
and selective pesticides, conservation
CCQC Board member Bob Elliott reads the wording
engraved on the Salter Award presented to citrus
researcher Joseph Morse.
and augmentation of predators and parasites,
and postharvest disinfestation.”
Morse conducts both applied and
fundamental research in a number of
areas within the field of entomology
including integrated pest management,
biological control, parasitoid biology
and behavior, insectary rearing of natural
enemies, the impact of pesticides on
both target pests and non-target organisms,
pesticide resistance, applied insect
ecology, and management of invasive
species.
In addition to his specific research
accomplishments, Dr. Morse has a remarkable
record of service including
three years as Director of the UC Center
for Invasive Species Research, six years
as Associate Director of the UC Statewide
IPM Program. and six years as Program
Leader for Agricultural Policy and
Pest Management within UC’s Division
of Agriculture and Natural Resources. l
Ted Batkin of the Citrus Research
Board congratulates Laird Roddick on
his Lifetime Achievement Award.
The very definition of ‘Lifetime Achievement’
When it was announced at the Conference
that Laird Roddick was
the winner of a Lifetime Achievement
Award, the applause that accompanied
him as he made his way to the stage was
very enthusiastic.
Roddick, who was profiled in the
most recent issue of Citrograph, turned
90 years old in September and yet he
works full-time in a high-level job.
Over a period of nearly 60 years,
he has held top management positions
with various citrus packinghouses, both
in Southern California and Central California,
and early in his career he and his
brother owned a pest control business.
He has been a grower – a thirdgeneration
orange and grapefruit producer
in the Highland area of the Inland
Empire – and Laird has also served in
leadership roles for several industry organizations
including California Citrus
Mutual.
It could be said that Laird Roddick’s
career in California citrus is the
very definition of “lifetime achievement”.
Ted Batkin of the Citrus Research
Board presented the award on behalf
of the National Orange Show in San
Bernardino. For over 60 years, the Orange
Show conducted an annual Citrus
Institute as an educational event for the
industry and had recently added the
lifetime achievement recognition to its
program. While the Institute itself is no
longer being held, Batkin reports that
the NOS is continuing the award as a
way of honoring the area’s rich citrus
heritage. l
50 Citrograph November/December 2012

Celebrating Citrus
Making memories ...
The special moments we share with family and friends at this time of year
are memories that last a lifetime, and many of those memories are made
in the kitchen.
As you probably know, recipes for using our California-grown citrus have
been a regular feature in Citrograph going back many decades, to the years when
the magazine was published by the Greene family of Los Angeles and then later
when the publisher was Lewis Robison whose wife Barbara just happened to be
the consumer services manager at Sunkist.
Because the holidays are a time for reminiscing and for being just a bit sentimental,
we did some looking through the December issues from 40 years ago,
from the 1970s. These recipes are just a very small sampling of the “citricreations”
developed by the home economists in Sunkist’s test kitchen especially for the
season. Are any of them a part of your family’s tradition l
Hot Mulled Cranberry Citrus Punch
Christmas Pralines
(about 1-1/4 pounds)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• Dash salt
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons fresh grated orange peel
• 2 cups pecan halves
Mix sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, salt
and 1/2 tablespoon butter in saucepan.
Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer,
stirring, 2 to 3 minutes to 238 o F on candy
thermometer or until a little of the mixture
forms a soft ball in cold water. Remove
from heat. Blend in remaining butter. Place
pan in cold water until bottom of pan
feels cool, about 10 minutes. Add vanilla
and beat for 5 minutes. When mixture is
creamy, stir in orange peel and 1-2/3 cups
of nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls on waxed
paper. Decorate with remaining pecan
halves. Makes 16 to 20 pralines.
From Citrograph, December 1972.
(about 7-1/2 cups)
• 2 cups water
• 1 quart cranberry juice cocktail
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• Fresh lemon slices
In large saucepan, combine water, sugar and spices. Bring to boil. Cook, uncovered, 5
minutes. Add remaining ingredients except lemon slices; heat. Do not boil. Strain. Serve
in mugs with lemon slices.
From Citrograph, December 1975.
Santa’s Special Orange Finale
(4 servings)
• 1 orange, peeled
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 pint orange sherbet
• 1/2 pint vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 cup triple sec or brandy (optional)
• Garnish with half orange cartwheels
Cut peeled orange in half, lengthwise. With a shallow “V” shaped cut, remove white center
core. Cut into chunks to yield at least 1/2 cup. Place in blender along with remaining
ingredients. Cover and whirl on highest speed at least 30 seconds until well blended
and frothy. Pour immediately into brandy snifters or other stemmed glasses. Garnish with
half orange cartwheels and serve with short straws. Makes about 2-1/2 cups.
From Citrograph, December 1972.
‘Bone-Warming’ Hot Citrus Toddy
(about 2 quarts)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 quart apple cider
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar • 2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
• 12 whole cloves
• Lemon slices
In large saucepan, combine sugars, spices and cider; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar
is dissolved. Simmer 5 minutes. Add lemon and orange juice; heat until warm but do
not boil. Strain. Serve in mugs with fresh lemon slices.
From Citrograph, December 1973.
November/December 2012 Citrograph 51

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• Containerized citrus is cleaner, more flexible and secure
• Clonally propagated rootstocks increase uniformity
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52 Citrograph November/December 2012
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