Insect pollinators contribute $29 billion to U.S. farm income
Posted: July 31, 2012
A truckload of honeybee colonies is delivered for lowbush blueberry pollination in Downeast, Maine.
By Krishna Ramanujan, Chronicle On Line, Cornell University
Bees and other insects that pollinate plants in the United States have suffered in recent decades from mites, pesticides, pathogens, land development and habitat fragmentation. Nevertheless, production of insect-pollinated crops has mostly increased this century. Now, new research shows that insect pollinators' value to farmers may be hard to replace.
According to a Cornell study published in the May 22 issue of the journal Public Library of Science ONE, crops pollinated by honeybees and other insects contributed $29 billion to farm income in 2010.
