المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

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كيف يمكننا حماية الملقحات وتعزيز دورها في الممارسات البيئية والزراعية؟

Pollination is responsible for providing us with a wide variety of food, mainly horticultural crops. In fact, pollinators such as bees, beetles, birds and bats affect 35 percent of the world's crop production, increasing outputs of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide (FAO), as well as many plant-derived medicines. It is critical for food production and human livelihoods, and directly links wild ecosystems with agricultural production systems. Without this service, many interconnected species and processes functioning within an ecosystem could collapse.

Human activity has put a large pressure on pollinators by both increasing their demand while at the same time removing their habitat. Horticulture has rapidly expanded over the last decades, while the landscape has become more uniform due to intensive agriculture. Lack of pollination has increased awareness of the value and management requirements of this service. Effective pollination requires resources, such as refuges of pristine natural vegetation. Where these are reduced or lost, pollinators are becoming scarce and adaptive management practices will be required to sustain food production.

What are the main issues concerning pollinator services and food security?

1) They increase food quantity

Bees and other pollinating insects are currently improving the food production of two billion small farmers worldwide, helping to ensure food security for the world's population. Research shows that if pollination is managed well on small diverse farms, with all other factors being equal, crop yields can increase by a significant median of 24 percent

2) They increase food quality

Foods richest in micro nutrients such as fruits, vegetables and seeds depend on pollination. If a plant has been well pollinated, meaning that it received quite a large amount of pollen, a larger and more uniform fruit will develop. Round apples for instance, would imply sufficient pollination, whereas misshaped apples would imply insufficient or imbalanced pollination. Generally, plants put more of their resources into pollinated fruits, increasing quality and taste.

3) Bees and pollinators need favourable environments to be productive

Pollinators need good foraging resources, places that are rich in flowers pollen and nectar. They need a place to nest and to eat, and a natural, non-toxic environment. One hundred years ago, small, diverse and pesticide-free farming systems proved very favorable for pollinators. Such environments can still be found today in developing countries such as Kenya.

4) Their biggest threats

The absence of an appropriate habitat for bees and other pollinators could lead to a continuous decline in pollination. Mono-cropping, pesticides, diseases and higher temperatures associated with climate change all pose problems for populations and, by extension, the quality of food we grow. Declining pollination can also pose an immediate threat on nutrition.

5) Protection measures for farmers and governments

For farmers:

Recommended practices include leaving some areas under natural habitat, creating hedgerows, reducing or changing the usage of pesticides, leaving nesting sites and planting attractive crops such as cassava around the field. The latter is often applied by farmers in Ghana and has yielded more than satisfactory results.

On a policy level:

Based on a report by the intergovernmental platform of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service (IPBES), governments should support a more diverse agriculture and depend less on toxic chemicals in order to facilitate an increase in pollination, leading to improved food quality and a surge in food quantity.

 

Given the importance of pollination services for both environmental and agricultural benefits it is vital that active steps are taken to help protect pollinators.

Your experience will help us take stock of challenges faced by pollinators and, more importantly, of ways to protect their important role in providing us with food. A summary brief of the comments and inputs you share will be widely circulated in order to raise awareness and prompt further exchanges.

  1. What activities are you aware of that are successfully promoting pollinator insects in your area? Share examples of best practice.
  2. What more needs to be done to encourage pollinator friendly practices?
  3. What training, support or information do you need to take up pollinator friendly practices?

Thank you for your comments and look forward to learning more.

James Edge, Communications specialist

and

FAO's TECA Beekeeping Exchange Group

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The overwhelming majority of scientific opinion on pollinator health confirms that this is a complex issue.

Threats are multiple and include land-use change, intensive agricultural management and pesticide use, environmental pollution, invasive alien species, pathogens, and climate change. 

Emerging and re-emerging deseases are a significant threat to the health of honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees expecially when managed commercially.

There is a need of moving towards more sustainable agricultural practices and reversing the semplification of agricultural landscapes. 

The Assessment on Pollinator of Intergovernamental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) confirms both the complexity and the multifaceted nature of this issue.

The analysis of Le Conte (2010) is very clear to this regard; even the European Commission on the main causes of bee mortality, according to beekeepers, shows 13 different threats. Some of these threats are dealing with beeking practice (according to COLOSS hobby beekeepers report higher losses). 

See the attachments:

Friends,

As an amateur beekeeper and agronomist, I have found this discussion to be of great interest.

I often think, especially when tending my bees, about how little we really understand about the multiple connections between humans, insects (including insects with other insects), plants, bacteria and viruses – and yet how easy it is for us to upset and destroy the foundations of the many elements of symbiosis that occur in “nature” and, in one way or another, may affect humanity’s continuing ability to feed itself.

The greatest risk of undermining these delicate relationships seems to come from the release onto the market of new pesticides on the basis of  flimsy and narrow information on their health and ecological impacts. Instead of requiring the inventors of products to provide hard proof of their safety, those who perceive possible negative impacts are required to prove the harmfulness of the products in question, but are not provided with either the means or time required to do this. One of the main messages emerging from this “pollinator” discussion is that there is a huge need for increasing the scale of publicly funded research on the relationships not just between pollinators and crops but also on the other links in the “ecological chain”, in order to create a much better evidence basis for understanding the impacts of technology changes in farming. The regulatory bodies should be given ample resources to commission any additional independent research required to prove the safety of potentially damaging products before approving their large-scale use or extension of use.

This danger of promoting over-simplistic solutions, such as those for creating pollinator habitats on less productive areas of a farm as advocated by Romano de Vivo (in this discussion on 30/08/16), are evident from a recent paper in Nature Communications (http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12459) entitled “Impacts of neonicotinoid use on long-term population changes in wild bees in England”, published on line on 16th August.

The very idea of creating special habitats for pollinators is a tacit admission that pesticide treated crops are damaging to populations, but it ignores the fact that honey bees will travel over 3 km to forage for nectar and pollen. If systemic insecticides are used on a crop such as oilseed rape or sunflower which is attractive to bees of various species and end up in the pollen or nectar, it seems pretty obvious that the proposed creation of pollinator habitats will achieve little reduction in the intake of the contaminated products of foraging unless they are far away from the crops in question.. Field hedges will also be exposed to the risk of pesticide drift during applications.

A useful discussion of this issue is provided in article by Ian Fitzpatrick http://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/science-versus-politics-neonicotinoid-saga/?utm_source=SFT+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2ba23a2d7a-Newsletter_07_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bf20bccf24-2ba23a2d7a-105097533, entitled “Science versus politics in the neonicotinoid saga”, quoted in a recent issue of the newsletter of the Sustainable Food Trust.

Andrew MacMillan

During 1995 to 2005 I worked at Deccan Development Society - Farm Science center (KVK)in search of alternatives to chemical agents both for soil nutrition and pest and disease management as team all the scientist of the center were involved in documenting the methods, procedures and practices that were followed in Zaheerbad region of Medak district of Telagana. Many farmers both men and women shared their extraordinary knowledge and skills with us. under the leadership of Dr. B Suresh Reddy all the practices were tested and and most efficient practices were summarized into a beautiful visual tool. These practices increased the life in Soil and in Air. 

Thank you Sincerely,

Salomeyesudas

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The knowledge of the importance of pollinators is within the food producers although we know that the food producers do not always pay attention to these pollinators all the time.

We just think that the bees are the only pollinators forgetting all kinds of butterflies and insects which contribute  quite a lot to our plants.

First and foremost there is need to document the disappearance of pollinators and their importance. Campaign against use of chemicals and less use of pesticides is also important and campaign against use of GMOs and use of agro-toxics. It is very important to encourage the growing of natural trees which flowers and not dangerous. Growing crops such as sunflowers, watermelons, pumpkins and pulses are of added value to attract these pollinators.

We also know that water harvesting is needed as these pollinators also need water.

Elizabeth

I have noticed in my recent studies that inter-cropping of legumes (peas, faba bean) and canola in winter cereals (wheat, barley) can result in a stronger attraction of honeybees (pollinators) as compared to sole wheat and barley crops cultures. Likewise, more honeybees/pollinators were noticed when summer legumes (pigeon pea or mung bean) were inter-cropped in summer cereals (sorghum or millets) while no honeybees were found on sole cereals crop. 

I conclude from my studies (2015-2016) that the cereal based cropping system decreases the number of honeybees in any climatic zone. Giving proper space to dicot crops, especially grain legumes (pulse crops, e.g. chickpea, lentil, peas, cowpea, faba bean, kidney bean, pigeon pea, mung bean, mash bean) and forage legumes (shaftal, berseem and alfalfa etc.) or introducing oil-seed crops (canola, sunflower, soybean, sesame, groundnut etc.) could significantly increase the population of pollinators and beneficial microbes in the soil.

In conclusion I could say that replacing the cereal based cropping system (monocot crops only) with suitable cropping system (having both monocot and dicot crops) could improve the soil and environmental quality.

Thanks.

Regards

I have developed and supported the use of Mobile Garden Carts (MGC) projects as we have lived in various nations and climates around the globe. These Mobile Garden Carts can be constructed wholly of recycled/reclaimed materials, or of new-use materials (and portions of proceeds used to help provide MGCs to in-need (landless, homeless, refugee, other) populations, consisting of wheeled platform(s) and pipe/vertical elevations used to support additional container-plantings, water supplies, optional composting, small-animal (rabbit/fowl) housing, seed propagation and/or drying racks, and protective netting/sheeting (plastic 'greenhousing'). 

When MGC gardeners are not allergic to bees, or in risk-prone areas, however, in addition to, or instead of small animal/fowl housing, these carts can be outfitted with small apiaries, much like those used at field edging or on rooftop gardens, to hive bees within the Mobile Garden Cart system itself. 

Mobile Garden Cart plantings can always include pollinator-friendly fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. However, when food-supply is less a priority than pollinator protection, MGCs can be planted entirely with pollinator-friendly herbs, flowers, and other plants. In mega-city, refugee-city and other densely-inhabited zones where bee, butterfly, and pollinating insect/bird populations have been threatened or all-but-obliterated, these carts can encourage a resurgence in pollinator numbers, as well as providing marketable herbs, flowers, and potentially sustainable quanties of honey. 

Such MGCs can also promote citizen interaction, education, inclusion, rehabilitation and recuperation--especially if climate-stable hives with clear acrylic sides are possible (allowing viewing/increased understanding of the industry of the bees). MGCs can be designed to fit doorways/elevators and move from living space to sidewalk, roadside to rooftop, refugee-settlements, homeless shelters, parks, museums, evacuation shelters and civic centers, and be located inside dwelling spaces, airport terminals, shopping centers, sports stadiums, hospital 'open zones,' special needs and age-differentiated centers, or anywhere else plants can conceivably be included, and awareness of the irreplaceable contributions of bees/pollinators to our life systems raised. 

Here is a link to one example of Mobile Garden Cart inclusion, in Barcelona, Spain, 2010. The specific project is no longer in operation, but Global Giving foundation provides links to many ongoing projects. 

Dear UNEP /FAO Members

Greetings

I am going to present a conceptual FFS Exposure visit of Green college farmers and participants to learn FFS Methodology, process, mixed cropping and gender involvement. Here in organic way we can save our pollinators by using organic and good agriculture practices. Please go through it for your learning and knowledge.

Regards

Bibhu Santosh Behera

Principal

Green College, Muniguda, Rayagada, Odisha, India

See the attachments:

Honey as we know have many advantages both for health of people and for crops. I believe Honey production can be increased once it is linked to industry which is into marketing and distribution of these products at large scale and have good brand value.

In India, Dabur Honey which commands approx. 60% market share works with Beekeeping farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar state. The firm trained these farmers on beekeeping thus to provide new stream of income for them and alleviate poverty.

Dabur then sells Honey under its brand within India and other countries.

Also as we know benefits of beekeeping on farms, we need to increase awareness of health benefits associated with eating honey in different forms.

Firms can introduce flavoured honey which can increase its offtake to consumers depending upon local taste which a consumer would like to have along with honey.

Once there is increase in demand of honey in consumers, the benefit will go down to industry and farms which would like to have more tie ups with beekeeping farmers.

So the good effect will be more and more beekeeping farms and increase in benefits associated to crops and farmers.

Obviously, the current decline of pollinators is becoming a threat for food security. It is multifarous reasons why most pollinators have been reducing since recent decades. Less attention is given for the role of pollinators in food security particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia. As a result, unwise application of pesticides for agricultural production and floricultural industries has been identified as the causes for the massive deaths of pollinators including bees, beetles, butterflies...etc. 

Therefore, all stakeholders including growers, beekeepers and policy makers should bring their attention to save the decline of pollinators in alarming rates. Government should support in the way to minimize the unwise use of agrochemicals and awareness should be created in all sectors involved to protect the loss of these beneficiary animals. Trainings at higher level is also required to provide technologies that will help to mitigate the situation between pesticide applications and protect pollinators.

Regards.