www.agtechdaily.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Home
  • Agriculture
  • Food
  • Technology
  • Sustainability
Contact
ABOUT US
  • Home
  • Agriculture
  • Food
  • Technology
  • Sustainability
No Result
View All Result
www.agtechdaily.com
No Result
View All Result
Home Agriculture

Healthy bee population is financial boon for Ireland’s apple growers

Admin by Admin
March 9, 2022
Reading Time:3min read
0

RELATED POSTS

A bush food with business potential

Adding an alligator gene to reduce infections in farmed catfish

Tree rows in modern agriculture reduce damage to environment

Fig. 1. Examples of study orchards and representative apple pollinator species on apple flowers: (a) Jonagored orchard, (b) Dabinett orchard, (c) hoverfly (Eristalis sp.) resting, (d) solitary bee (Andrena haemorrhoa) resting, (e) honeybee (Apis mellifera) foraging, and (f) bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) foraging. Credit: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2022.107911

A healthy bee population would represent a financial boon for Ireland’s apple growers suggests new UCD research.

It is well documented that bees, and other insect pollinators such as wasps and hoverflies, are vital in the pollination of several Irish crops, and a new study from the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science puts this in focus—showcasing that insect pollination contributes to 93% of the market value of domestic dessert apples sold in Ireland, and 46% of the market value for apples used in Irish cider production.

This economic activity accounts for over €800,000 per year added value to combined apple production in Ireland, and according to Dr. Dara Anne Stanley, Irish apple producers could see even greater benefits with more successful pollination from wild and managed bees.

“We found that yield of desert apples was limited by the amount of pollination they received. So more pollination by insect pollinators could increase harvests of this crop in Ireland,” said the reseacher from the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science.

While all pollinators—including flies and bees—contributed to apple pollination, honeybees and bumblebees were found to be the most important pollinators of Jonagored (dessert) apples, while honeybees contribute the most to Dabinett (cider apples) pollination.

Of note, the study stresses the importance of wild insect diversity and suggests that the agricultural sector in Ireland be encouraged to promote general insect pollinator biodiversity to maintain and increase the stability of pollination services over time.

Buy JNews
ADVERTISEMENT

Honeybee visitation rates varied considerably between apple cultivars, the University College Dublin researchers found—noting the need for a more comprehensive understanding of crop pollination requirements depending on the region

They suggest that hoverflies, known as flower flies, and solitary bees could make good targets for future pollinator management across Ireland as hoverflies exhibited high floral visitation rates, and solitary bees were found to transport large amounts of pollen during their travels.

Although their economic value to apples is currently much smaller than honeybees, the UCD researchers stressed that the activity of wild bees and hoverflies was significant—in helping to improve the quality and quantity of a harvest at little to no cost, with some species of flower flies also providing pest control by eating other common insects such as aphids.

“While we already have populations of wild insects on farmland in Ireland providing pollination to crops, we also know that pollinators are declining. Pollinator numbers can be increased and stabilized on farmland by providing more habitat through simple measures such as planting new hedgerows, letting existing hedges and field margins flower, or reducing or eliminating use of pesticide,” said Dr. Stanley.


Decline of bees, other pollinators threatens US crop yields


More information:
Katherine L.W. Burns et al, The importance and value of insect pollination to apples: A regional case study of key cultivars, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2022.107911

Provided by
University College Dublin

Citation:
Healthy bee population is financial boon for Ireland’s apple growers (2022, March 8)
retrieved 8 March 2022
from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-healthy-bee-population-financial-boon.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Source link

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
Admin

Admin

Related Posts

Agriculture

A bush food with business potential

February 8, 2023
Agriculture

Adding an alligator gene to reduce infections in farmed catfish

February 8, 2023
Agriculture

Tree rows in modern agriculture reduce damage to environment

February 7, 2023
Agriculture

Wild bumblebee queens lured and killed in commercial hives, study reveals

February 7, 2023
Agriculture

Key tilapia genome offers boost to global food security

February 7, 2023
Agriculture

Research untangles physicochemical and nutritional qualities of kiwifruit varieties

February 7, 2023
Next Post

Unilever commits to annual nutritional report

Hostess Brands to invest up to $140M to retrofit idle plant for Donettes and cakes

Latest News

All but one of ice cream samples tested in outbreak investigation are contaminated

July 16, 2022

The Inflation Reduction Act Adds Agricultural Nature-Based Solutions To The Climate Toolkit

August 18, 2022
What’s Holding People Back From Eating Insects?

What’s Holding People Back From Eating Insects?

February 23, 2022

Most Popular

  • Agricultural E-Commerce Boosts Incomes For Cherry farmers in Shandong

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Seeds of Discord: Farmers Accused of Fraud in Dicamba Dispute | Arkansas Business News

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Farm Credit Administration tours the Midwest – Agweek

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 12 Biggest Agriculture Companies in the World

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How Technology Is Changing Agriculture

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
www.agtechdaily.com

AgTech Daily provides in-depth journalism and insight into the most impactful news and trends shaping the agricultural and food technology industry

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Announcements
  • Food
  • Others
  • Sustainability
  • Technology

Quick Links

  • Home
  • About us

© 2022 - All Right Reserved. www.agtechdaily.com.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Agriculture
  • Food
  • Technology
  • Sustainability

© 2022 - All Right Reserved. www.agtechdaily.com.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
%d bloggers like this: