Measure H, which bans the "propagation, cultivation, raising and growing of genetically modified organisms in Mendocino County" was approved by 56 percent of that county's voters. ...
Measure H doesn't outlaw traditional breeding methods or hybridization, which researchers have used to give consumers juicier nectarines, heartier tomatoes and exotic varieties, including pluots and cherry-plums.
—Richard T. Estrada, "Area growers wary after Mendocino measure passes ban on foods deemed genetically modified," Modesto Bee, March 6, 2004
''We develop new varieties of stone fruit,'' Floyd Zaiger says of Zaiger's Genetics, the business he runs in Modesto, Calif., with his daughter and two sons. ''Primarily we work with peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots.'' Lately the focus has been on the last two; Zaiger is cross-pollinating them, and what he has dubbed ''
pluots'' are on the way.
''Originally, we crossed an apricot with a plum,'' explains Zaiger. (The light-skinned fruit, above left, known as plumcots, are samples of the first stage of crossbreeding.) ''Then we made selections of the seedlings and crossed them with plums. Our objective was to increase the flavor of the plum, to where it was superior in eating quality.''
—Bruce Weber, "The Pits," The New York Times, August 7, 1988
