Factors contributing to the demise of tung production in the United States

Conclusions

Complete disappearance of commercial tung acreage has not occurred as yet; but it is almost a certainty. Less than thirty years ago, viable tung holdings were dispersed across the Southeast from Louisiana in the west to Georgia in the east. Presently, tung groves in northern Florida are really the sole support of American production (Fig. 3); and these holdings are quickly disappearing (12). It may be possible, if the remaining Florida groves are not damaged by weather, and if several thousand acres are replanted in Mississippi and Louisiana with new variety clones, that the industry may buy itself an extended life span. This will provide the time that researchers need to discover new and better uses for the oil. Perhaps with patience and an extraordinary amount of perseverance, tung growers may survive the rigors of competition, climatic problems, and rising costs; but it is, alas, highly improbable. Tung oil production in the United States will never be more than a token agricultural activity, a curiosity on the landscape, a relic of past endeavors.