Report highlights the importance of pollination for agriculture

Most, 76% of the plants used for food production in Brazil are dependent on the ecosystem service of pollination carried out by animals. This is what the 1st Thematic Report on Pollination, Pollinators and Food Production in Brazil points out. The document shows the economic, environmental and social impacts of pollination on the country's agriculture and the threats to this service, and serves as a basis for public managers and research institutions. The document is the result of a partnership between Embrapa Amazônia, the Brazilian Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Platform (BPBES) and the Brazilian Network of Plant-Pollinator Interactions (Rebipp).

Of the 289 cultivated or wild plants, used directly or indirectly in food production in the country, there is knowledge available about the pollination of 191 (66%). The services provided by these animals, especially bees, to Brazilian agriculture were estimated at R$43 billion in 2018, mainly associated with four crops of great agricultural importance: soybeans, coffee, oranges and apples. In the Amazon, the biggest example is the Brazil nut, which depends entirely on bees for its reproduction. The list also includes cashews, melons, watermelons, pine cones and passion fruit.

Biologist Márcia Maués, researcher at Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, one of the authors of the document, explains that these animals provide an ecosystem service (pollination) that increases crop productivity and contributes to the formation of fruits and seeds of better appearance and quality, adding market value of products. “Public policies to value the service and protect pollinators can be the decisive factor in increasing the productivity and quality of Brazilian agricultural production”, says the expert.

The report points out that there is currently information for 91 plants regarding their dependence on pollination by animals for the production of fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and oilseeds used for human consumption. Pollination acts directly on fruiting and reproduction and the degree of dependence varies from little to essential. These animals are flies, wasps, butterflies, moths, bats, beetles and, mainly, bees. These, according to the report, are responsible for almost 80% of pollinated crops.

Document alert

Some factors threaten the action of pollinators, such as habitat loss, climate change, environmental pollution, agrochemicals, invasive species, diseases and pathogens. Scientists' concern about these threats was one of the reasons that led to the creation of the document as a basis for decision-making by public managers.

Márcia Maués states that changes in land use, which lead to the loss and replacement of natural habitats by agricultural or urban areas, are one of the risk factors highlighted in the report. “These changes to the landscape, when carried out without planning and without considering biological interactions, reduce, for example, the supply of places to build nests and reduce the food resources used by pollinators”, she says.

The 1st Thematic Report on Pollination, Pollinators and Food Production in Brazil is available free of charge at www.bpbes.net.br and www.rebipp.org.br.

About REPIPP - the Brazilian Plant-Pollinator Interaction Network is a collaborative work network between experts in Pollination Biology who study plant-pollinator interactions in their various dimensions and aims to encourage the development of scientific and didactic activities in the area. One of REBIPP's projects is the creation and maintenance of a database of plant-pollinator interactions, whose objectives are to diagnose the diversity of plant-pollinator interactions that exist in Brazil; identify knowledge gaps and; stimulate the development of research projects among Network collaborators.