Pollinator Services in Horticultural Crop Production

Pollinator services underpin the productivity and quality of a vast array of fruits, vegetables and ornamentals grown in both open-field and protected environments. Bees, flies, butterflies, moths and other animals transfer pollen between flowers, facilitating sexual reproduction and enhancing fruit set, size, shape and nutritional content. In horticultural systems, this mutualism not only secures yield stability and genetic diversity but also raises commercial value by improving uniformity and shelf life. Greenhouses, polytunnels and netted enclosures often alter microclimate and floral cues, necessitating tailored pollinator management to maintain service delivery. Across diverse geographies, farmers integrate managed colonies with wild pollinator habitats, manipulate flowering phenology and adjust crop architecture to optimise visitation. However, habitat loss, pesticide exposure, climate change and the introduction of non-native pollinators pose challenges to the resilience of these services. Emerging strategies combine habitat restoration, selective breeding of native pollinators and fine-tuning of environmental variables to bolster pollination efficiency and safeguard food security.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have quantified the contribution of bee pollinators to smallholder horticulture in sub-Saharan Africa, revealing that visits by honeybees and wild bees can boost the quantity and quality of cotton and sesame yields by over 60 per cent on average. Exclusion experiments demonstrate substantial yield gaps—up to 59 per cent—when insect visits are prevented, underscoring the role of biotic pollination in counteracting inbreeding depression and maintaining genetic variability. This work highlights the vulnerability of cash-crop stability to pollinator decline and emphasises the necessity of conserving diverse insect assemblages to sustain agricultural resilience under rapid environmental change.

Pollinator Services in Horticultural Crop Production publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in pollinator services in horticultural crop production across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Pollinator service: The beneficial process by which animals transfer pollen, enabling successful fertilisation and fruit development in crops.

Buzz pollination: A mechanism in which certain bees vibrate poricidal anthers at specific frequencies to release pollen.

Protected cropping: Cultivation of crops within structures such as glasshouses, polytunnels or net houses that modify environmental conditions.

Inbreeding depression: The reduction in plant vigor and fitness resulting from mating between closely related individuals.

Floral volatiles: Organic compounds emitted by flowers that serve as olfactory cues to attract pollinators.

References

1. Supplemental far-red light influences flowering traits and interactions with a pollinator in tomato crops. Environmental and Experimental Botany (2023).
2. Rearing of Native Bumblebee Species Bombus haemorrhoidalis for Greenhouse Pollination in Pakistan †. Agriculture (2024).
3. Bee pollination increases yield quantity and quality of cash crops in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Scientific Reports (2017).
4. The effect of protective covers on pollinator health and pollination service delivery. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment (2021).