Integrated Crop Pollination: Combining strategies to ensure stable and sustainable yields of pollination-dependent crops

• Published in: Basic and applied ecology Vol. 22; pp. 44 - 60
• Main Authors: Isaacs, Rufus, Williams, Neal, Ellis, James, Pitts-Singer, Theresa L., Bommarco, Riccardo, Vaughan, Mace
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier GmbH 01.08.2017
• Subjects: Bee; Biodiversity; Crop; Ecology; Ekologi; Food; Management; Sustainability; Crop; Bee; Management; Biodiversity; Sustainability; Food
• ISSN: 1439-1791; 1618-0089
• DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2017.07.003

Integrated Crop Pollination is an approach to pollination of crops that uses a combination of managed and wild bees combined with farm practices that support pollinators. [Display omitted] Our growing human population will be increasingly dependent on bees and other pollinators that provide the essential delivery of pollen to crop flowers during bloom. Within the context of challenges to crop pollinators and crop production, farm managers require strategies that can reliably provide sufficient pollination to ensure maximum economic return from their pollinator-dependent crops. There are unexploited opportunities to increase yields by managing insect pollination, especially for crops that are dependent on insect pollination for fruit set. We introduce the concept of Integrated Crop Pollination as a unifying theme under which various strategies supporting crop pollination can be developed, coordinated, and delivered to growers and their advisors. We emphasize combining tactics that are appropriate for the crop’s dependence on insect-mediated pollination, including the use of wild and managed bee species, and enhancing the farm environment for these insects through directed habitat management and pesticide stewardship. This should be done within the economic constraints of the specific farm situation, and so we highlight the need for flexible strategies that can help growers make economically-based ICP decisions using support tools that consider crop value, yield benefits from adoption of ICP components, and the cost of the practices. Finally, education and technology transfer programs will be essential for helping land managers decide on the most efficient way to apply ICP to their unique situations. Building on experiences in North America and beyond, we aim to provide a broad framework for how crop pollination can help secure future food production and support society’s increasing demand for nutritious diets.