A Rutgers-led study shows diminished crop yield is globally common but low yields could be addressed by increasing the number of pollinators.
A Rutgers-led study shows diminished crop yield is globally common but low yields could be addressed by increasing the number of pollinators.
A team of researchers led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists has analyzed crop yields of more than 1,500 fields on six continents, and found that production worldwide of important, nutritionally dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes is being limited by a lack of pollinators.
The results, detailed in Nature Ecology & Evolution, showed that across diverse crops and locations, one-third to two-thirds of farms contain fields that aren’t producing at the levels they should be due to a lack of pollinators. The phenomenon of a low crop yield because of insufficient visits by insects is known as pollinator limitation.
The study is especially timely given recent concern about global declines in insect abundance.
Read more at Rutgers University
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