Pollinator are the biotic agents (insects) that moves pollens from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization .
Many fruit crops require an insect pollinator to help insure pollination (i.e. apples, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries).
Having enough pollinators during bloom is essential to produce a sustainable crop.
2. Pollinators
Pollinator are the biotic agents (insects) that
moves pollens from the male anthers of a
flower to the female stigma of a flower to
accomplish fertilization .
Many fruit crops require an insect pollinator
to help insure pollination (i.e. apples,
blueberries, blackberries, cherries,
cranberries, pears, plums, raspberries,
strawberries).
Having enough pollinators during bloom is
essential to produce a sustainable crop.
3. Pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther (male part)
of a flower to the stigma (female part) of a flower.
The transfer of compatible pollen results in fertilization and the
formation of seeds.
4. The seeds formed after fertilization
stimulate growth of the surrounding
ovarian tissue or the flesh of a fruit.
Flowers with higher levels of
fertilization produce more seeds and
thus bigger fruit.
Proper pollination increases fruit
size at yield, hastens maturity, and
produces a more symmetrical fruit
shape
Improperly pollinated fruits will often
be smaller and misshapen because
the ovarian tissue is not stimulated to
grow around the areas without seeds.
5. Diagram of asymmetry that develops due to
incomplete pollination in raspberries. The left and
middle berries were self-pollinated and the berry on
the right was insect pollinated.
6. Fruits benefited from insect pollinator
Pollination is an ecosystem service, it is a natural ecological
process that benefits mankind.
Insects pollinate crops, assisting with the process of food
production and significantly increasing the yield of certain
crops.
The honey bee is the primary pollinator for these fruit crops.
some crops rely on biotic pollination. Pome and stone fruits
rely heavily on insect pollination, in fact insect pollination
can increase yields in cherry and plum crops by 80% and
30% respectively .
The honey bee is the primary pollinator for these fruit crops.
7. Quality of insect pollinated fruit is far superior then wind
pollinated fruit .
Seed content is higher which make better shape fruit and
higher yields.
In apples the calcium content is incresed with insect
pollination, giving longer storage life.
Globally, there are 264 crop species have been identified
as being dependent or partially dependent on pollination.
In fact, 39 of the world’s most produced 57 crop species
exhibit an increase in yield due to biotic pollination
According to the TEEB report (2010), the total economic
value of insect pollination globally is estimated to be 153
Billion euros, this equates to 9.5% of agricultural production