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Pollination, Pollinators & Agriculture: Canadian international leadership, then and now

Pollination, Pollinators & Agriculture: Canadian international leadership, then and now. Peter Kevan Canadian Pollination Initiative University of Guelph, Ontario. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages. Since the dawn of agriculture Figs Dates.

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Pollination, Pollinators & Agriculture: Canadian international leadership, then and now

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  1. Pollination, Pollinators & Agriculture:Canadian international leadership, then and now Peter Kevan Canadian Pollination Initiative University of Guelph, Ontario

  2. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages • Since the dawn of agriculture • Figs • Dates Amos of the Old Testament was a fig-piercer (2800 BP) Babylonian date pollination by hand 3700 BP Herodotus 2500 BP

  3. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages Canadian Stories • Canadian Examples: Canadian Leadership • An Apple a Day • Alfalfa Seeds, Forage, and Leafcutting Bees • Blueberries, Bees, Business & Litigation • Tomatoes & Bumblebees in the Greenhouse • Pollinator Biocontrol Biovectoring • Honeybees, Beekeeping … Honey, we got problems! • Emerging problems & NSERC-CANPOLIN

  4. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Apple • Apple in the Canadian East • Native bees (many species) & effective (J. Macoun 1923, 1924) • Insecticides problematic, studies by W.H. Brittain and team (1928-1932) in Annapolis Valley, NS • Solution John Macoun W. H. Brittain

  5. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Apple • Honeybee husbandry • Hive-mounted pollen dispensers C. Jay, hive deployment studies in orchards Nova Scotia Ag. College dispenser

  6. R & D Needs for Pollination in Fruit Production • R & D needs • Pollination needs (crosses between cultivars) • Pollinator behaviour • Orchard design • Pollinator diversification • Wild pollinators

  7. Pollination needs: Breeding System • Apples are self-incompatible between cultivars • Within cultivars, cross pollination does NOT result in fruit set McIntosh flower McIntosh pollen G. Delicious Idared, Spy, etc.

  8. Pollinator Behaviour: Pollen Pick-up & Delivery Stigma touch/ Pollen collected ++++ Stigma touch/ Nectar collected +++ Stigma missed/ Nectar collected +/- Stigma missed/ Anthers missed - -

  9. Floral Form & Bee Behaviour Empire – filaments with small gaps Jona Gold – filaments tight together: bees have to work from top Mutsu – large gaps between filaments: bees can work from petals

  10. Orchard Design: Gene Movement Pollination neighbourhood Most pollen comes from within 20m of each tree Mixed pollens on one flower: better fruit-set Some cultivars have “stud-pollen”; others have “wimp-pollen” 20m

  11. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages Canadian Stories – Alfalfa • Alfalfa in the Canadian West • F.W.L. Sladen (1918) advocated Megachile spp. for pollination • To the 1940s, system seemed effective (Salt 1940) • High productivity of alfalfa seed leads to expansion of fields • By 1950s, problems!

  12. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories - Alfalfa • Small fields merged into Huge fields, no Megachile nesting habitat, except around edges • Seed Yields drop: 1000 to 15 kg/ha (Stephen 1955) • Solution

  13. Alfalfa leafcutting bee husbandry G. Hobbs, Lethbridge, AB (perfected by mid 1960s) Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories - Alfalfa Gordon Hobbs

  14. Value of Leafcutter Bee Industry in Canada (ca. 2009) • 50,000 bees per ha = over 2.0 Billion bee population in SK alone (75% of Canada’s alfalfa seed production) • 13.5 Million kg seed/yr = $40 Million $25 Million/yr in exports • Bees = 30+% of seed value = $15 - 20 Million

  15. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories - Lowbush Blueberries • Maritimes & Quebec • Canadian production • 300 Million kg/yr • Exports = $323 Million • Must be pollinated by bees • Buzz pollination • Wild bees (70+ species) • Honeybees

  16. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Blueberries & the Forest • Blueberry Pie Ecosystem & Pesticides • During Fenitrothion • This example: New Brunswick • Other similar examples: Quebec, Ontario

  17. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Blueberries & the Forest New Brunswick’s Blueberries, Bees, & Pesticide Story Fenitrothion Crop loss ≈ 0.7 million kg/year !

  18. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Blueberries & the Forest • Solutions • Litigation • Restraining orders • More science • Other pesticides • Other pollinators • Other plants • Other places Kevan & Plowright, 1970 - Disrupted ecosystem function Reduced pollinator diversity and abundance Reduced fruit / seed set

  19. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – The Forest • Solution • Tighter control on forest pesticide use • More emphasis on biocontrol • Recognition of pollinators in forest ecosystem function New Brunswick blueberry story was at the start of a major trend in pollinator conservation worldwide

  20. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Greenhouse Tomatoes • Still air • Hand pollination • Labour costs $$$ • Reliability • Timing • Solution

  21. Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Greenhouse Tomatoes • Bumblebee culture MB Plowright & Jay 1966 ON Kevan et al. 1991 BC Dogterom 1998 ON Morandin et al. 2001- 2 BC Winston team 2003-4

  22. Value of Greenhouse Tomato Production (ca. 2009) • 736 Acres in Ontario (75% of Canadian production) • $290 Million/year • Bumblebees @ 2 colonies/acre/month for 10 months • 20 colonies @ $200 each/acre/year • $3.7 Million/year in Canada

  23. Pollinator Biocontrol Biovectoring • Pollinators carry microorganisms (pollen incl.) • Can Biocontrol agents be carried by pollinators? • Yes! • Entomopathogens of crop pest insects • Lygus, thrips, aphids, whitefly, moths, beetles • Fungal antagonists to plant pathogens • Grey mould, mummy berry, Schlerotinia, Rhizopus, Phomopsis

  24. Greenhouse Experimental set up Inoculum was placed inside a removable tray. Each bumble bee hive was equipped with an inoculum dispenser.

  25. Greenhouse results: Lygusmortality though bee vectored Beauvaria

  26. Clonostachys on Blueberry Pollinating Bumblebees for Mummyberry & Greymould control PEI Organic/Pesticide- free Blueberry Farm, 2009 – 2012 trials

  27. Value of Honeybees for Crop Pollination (ca. 2009) • Est. value = $1.3 to $1.7 Billion annually in Canada • 300,000 colonies for hybrid canola seed • 35,000 colonies for blueberries • 15,000 colonies for fruit trees • @ average $120/ colony = $42 Million in hive rentals/year • Honey = $110 Million/year (28 Million kg)

  28. Initiatives on Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canada at the Forefront • NRCanada (1981) Pesticide Pollinator Interactions • AgCanada (1989) National Workshop, Winnipeg • ESC (1997) Pollinators & Mother Earth • Canadian participation in International & US meetings (1992, 1995-2012) • US NRC (2007) Status of Pollinators in North America

  29. Recent Canadian Initiatives • CPPI – January, 2007 in Ottawa • CANPOLIN – NSERC Strategic Network Proposal: submitted February 2008 ($5 million) • City of Guelph Pollination Park 7 March 2008 • CPPI – Urban pollination, 8 March 2008 • National Wildlife Week, 30 April 2008 • Pollinator Conservation in Practice, 13 Nov. 2009 Funded Oct. 2008!

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