Wild pollinators are twice as effective as honeybees in pollinating crops like oilseed rape, coffee, onions, almonds, tomatoes and strawberries

Wild bees, butterflies, flies, beetles and other wild insects play a key role in pollination and hence in food production, a new study of 41 crops in 600 fields across the world shows. Till now, the general perception was that honey-bees - that is, domesticated bees - are the only crucial pollinator that is suffering a decline. But this study published in the scientific journal Science upturns current wisdom. The study found that wild pollinators were twice as effective as honeybees in pollinating crops like oilseed rape, coffee, onions, almonds, tomatoes and strawberries. "We found that in landscapes with lower diversity and lower abundance of wild insects, the crops set less seeds and less fruit," said Lucas Garibaldi of the National University in Rio Negro, Argentina, who led the 46-member scientific team. "We know wild insects are declining so we need to start focusing on them. Without such changes, the ongoing loss is destined to compromise agricultural yields worldwide."

Source: The Times of India, 1 March 2013
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-01/the-good-earth/3…