Opportunities to reduce pollination deficits and address production shortfalls in an important insect-pollinated crop.

ABSTRACT: Pollinators face multiple pressures and there is evidence of populations in decline. As demand for insect-pollinated crops increases, crop production is threatened by shortfalls in pollination services. Understanding the extent of current yield deficits due to pollination and identifying opportunities to protect or improve crop yield and quality through pollination management is therefore of international importance. To explore the extent of "pollination deficits," where maximum yield is not being achieved due to insufficient pollination, we used an extensive dataset on a globally important crop, apples. We quantified how these deficits vary between orchards and countries and we compared "pollinator dependence" across different apple varieties. We found evidence of pollination deficits and

SUBMITTER: Garratt MPD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11475340 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature