How much more fruit does cranberry plants produce that are pollinated by insects? Valorization of floral visitors.
Pollination by insects has a great economic benefit for human beings by significantly increasing the production and quality of crops, calculating that this service provided only by bees exceeds the 150 trillions of € in world agriculture.
In the face of growing concern about the possible effects of human population growth, the greatest concern is food shortages. Pollination by insects has a great economic benefit for humans by significantly increasing the production and quality of crops, calculating that said service provided by bees alone exceeds 150 billion € in world agriculture. The objective of our work is to count the degree of dependence of the Emerald variety blueberry and to estimate in monetary value the pollination service provided by the entire community of insects that are visiting the blueberry.
For this work, 13 plots of 1ha of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) variety Emerald were chosen located along the coast of the Uruguay River. In order to evaluate the dependence on pollination for the blueberry crop, the number of fruits formed was measured and their quality was evaluated through physical parameters (weight and size) and reproductive (seed formation) in a series. of treatments that estimate the rate of fruit formation in different situations: T1- Pollination by insects, T2- Self-pollination, T3- Manual pollination, T4- Asexual formation.
The data obtained from the reproductive treatments to assess the dependence of the Emerald variety showed significant differences for the percentage of fruiting observed between all the treatments (F = 210,09; p = <0,0001). In the Emerald variety, it presents a fruit formation through asexual reproduction (Parthenocarpy) of 9 ± 0,3%, in addition to a high self-incompatibility in fertilization with pollen from the same plant (Autogamy) with values of 24 ± 0,3%. If we compare the treatments where exogamous pollen intervenes, manual pollination (Alogamia) presents a 58 ± 0,3% fruit formation rate compared to 74 ± 0,1% produced by pollination carried out by insects. In the quality parameters, it is observed that T1 differs significantly from the rest of the reproductive treatments with a weight (2,52 ± 0,5 g), caliber (17,640 ± 1,350 mm; p in all cases> 0,001) and number of seeds (14 ± 12. Fruits formed by pollinators produced fruits 45,54% larger and 142,31% heavier than those formed by reproductive processes of the plant.
The results presented show us the importance of conserving the ecosystem services provided by pollinators, reflecting in this variety, in a decrease in the productive potential of the plant by 67,57%. If we take this proportion and bring it to a cost equivalent to the value of the fruit in the 260 ha. of blueberry cultivation of var. Emerald, using the price of US $ 12 per kilogram of fruit for export as an estimate, would give us a loss of just over 21,08 million dollars. For this reason, being aware of the processes that occur in the environment of our crops gives us the tools to be critical when making decisions and at the same time, contribute by mitigating the pressure for change that is observed on these key actors.
Source: Inta.gob.ar
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