Conserving pollinators for improved food production

pollinators

Pollination is an essential process in both human-managed and natural terrestrial ecosystems, and it is critical for food production and human livelihoods, directly linking wild ecosystems with agricultural production systems.

Pollinators help plants to grow fruit or seeds by transporting pollen from one part of a plant to another. Without this process, the plants cannot reproduce, which makes pollinators vital to the production of many of the world’s most important crops, as well as millions of jobs and livelihoods that are dependent on this production.

Globally, 35% of food crop production depends on animal pollinators, including honey bees. One of the 115 crop species that provide 90% of food supplies for 146 countries, 71 are bee-pollinated, out of which there are more than 20,000 species of wild bees alone, plus many species of butterflies, flies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, bats and other animals.

In a 2005 study, the economic value of pollination was estimated at €153 billion, accounting for 9.5% of farm production for human food.

A recent report reveals that more than three-quarters of the world’s food crops rely at least in part on pollination by insects and other animals and between $235 billion and $577 billion worth of annual global food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators.

Sadly, as important as pollinators are to food production, there is a mounting evidence of pollinators decline all over the world. Pollination services are increasingly threatened by the human modification of natural habitats.

According to the first global assessment of pollinators, there is some cause for concern with entire populations under pressure from things like habitat loss, diseases, pesticides, pollution, pathogens and climate change.

A disruption in pollination services could have important negative ecological and economic consequences because the cessation of these services could reduce wild plant diversity, narrow ecosystem stability, reduce crop production, and decrease food security and human welfare.

Conserving existing habitats and rehabilitating new habitat are important steps to preserve pollinators and provide pollination services to crops.

Therefore, to protect pollinators in the farm, farmers are advised to do the following:

• Select Agri-Environment Scheme options which support wild pollinators such as flower margins or habitat creation.
• Decrease exposure of pollinators to pesticides by reducing their usage, seeking alternative forms of pest control, and adopting a range of specific application practices, including technologies to reduce pesticide drift.
• Leave uncultivated flower rich patches in farmland where pollinators can benefit from flowers and nesting resources.
• Plant mass-flowering crops (e.g. oilseed, clover and field beans) as part of rotations to provide extra nectar and pollen for bees and other insects.
• Improving managed bee husbandry for pathogen control, coupled with better regulation of trade and use of commercial pollinators.
• Education and exchange of knowledge among farmers, scientists, industry, communities, and the general public.