1 / 29

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.

conor
Télécharger la présentation

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

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  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!

More Related