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The domestic tung industry today
Author(s) -
Potter George F.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02652427
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , agricultural economics , business , agricultural science , crop , frost (temperature) , production (economics) , engineering , agroforestry , geography , environmental science , forestry , economics , meteorology , philosophy , linguistics , macroeconomics
The tung tree ( Aleurites fordii ) requires a moderately acid soil, an annual rainfall of 45 to 70 in., and a long hot summer, yet it must have a period of cold weather in winter. These factors limit its culture in North America to a narrow belt along the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas. The majority of the orchards presently consist of miscellaneous seedlings that are about 30 years of age. By replacing these with orchards of new varieties, on suitable soil, and by following recommended practices, growers can produce oil at lower costs than previously. However, crop loss from frost is still a serious problem. Machine harvesting is now a reality. During World War II the government requisitioned the entire domestic production of tung oil for military purposes, and regular customers had to turn to other products. This market has not yet been fully won back, and growers look to utilization research to improve the market.