Of the tools that have surfaced as possible workarounds for citrus greening, the Silvec Biologics spinach-based peptide is on the verge of earning EPA and state approval.
Silvec CEO Rafael Simon says the company’s revolutionary agricultural technology has made it through most of the process and should be fully approved by the end of 2025.
“The public comment phase was very positive,” said Simon. “The EPA has kept to their timelines and has been prioritizing projects related to greening. I think we are right at the end.”
Silvec’s product has been a team effort from the beginning. It uses a benign virus that was modified to include a spinach-based peptide that prompts plants to produce antibacterial agents that instinctively fight against the bacteria that causes greening.
Texas A&M developed the peptide, University of Florida researchers worked on the citrus vector, and U.S. Sugar invested time and money over a 15-year period to develop it. When U.S. Sugar decided to step away from citrus production, Silvec Biologics had the opportunity to take over the project, said Simon.
“We knew there wouldn’t be one magic bullet to take down greening,” he said. “But there may be two or three things stacked on top of each other that do the trick.”
Simon said a lot of the development came while U.S. Sugar was in the process. “There have been a lot of staff who spent time developing this project and we owe them all a big debt of gratitude as we come near the end of this approval process.”
The approval process wasn’t without quirks. The product didn’t fit into existing EPA categories.
“They generally look to see if you have a genetically modified product or a spray product,” said Simon. “But ours is naturally produced and not a spray.”
There was a similar issue when the EPA wanted to look through the manufacturing facility.
“But the plant itself does the manufacturing; it’s literally a manufacturing plant,” he said. “Little things like that made the approval process unique, but the EPA has been very supportive. Their goal all along was to help do what is best for the citrus industry.”
Silvec found a way to increase the peptide about 1,000 percent, said Simon, and now they’re seeing trees in the lab becoming more effective. Silvec is currently preparing for field trials in Lake Wales for this new formula.
“We made a change,” says Simon. “We found in doing the trials that we would get good results in the lab that didn’t translate into the field.”
The catch: The EPA is currently reviewing the initial formula, which means that Silvec will need to go through a separate approval process for the enhanced formula.
Simon said he hopes the second process will be straightforward since the only difference in the revised formula is the amount of peptide.
That doesn’t mean Simon will be sitting back and waiting for a second approval.
“We are busy getting an emergency-use permit,” he said. “And I want to really start working with growers and with the CRAFT program to get them up to speed on a limited basis in preparation for 2027 when we may receive unlimited use approval.”