Apples are one of the most important global fruit crops both in terms of yield and economic value, and rely on insect pollination. Pollination has been shown to increase apple production and economic value. The apple production in Bhutan has decreased from 7,051 MT in 2014 to 3,684 MT in 2018. Among the factors identified for the decline of apple quality and yield, pollinator deficits in orchards and inefficient pollination are hypothesised to be less recognised among Bhutanese farmers. Here we surveyed the knowledge and perception of farmers towards apple pollination and pollinators in the three dominant apple-producing districts of Bhutan: Thimphu, Paro, and Haa. One hundred and five farmers (35 from each district) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. When asked about the yield trend compared to previous years, 74.3% of the respondents noticed a decrease in yield compared to the year 2019, and 96.2% of the respondents said yield has decreased over the last five years. Sixty percent of the farmers were unaware of apple pollination and the importance of pol-linators. The farmers could not differentiate between different pollinator species, with honeybees be-ing the only pollinator known to the farmers. Education and years of working experience were found to influence farmers’ knowledge about pollinators and apple pollination. This study establishes base-line information of farmers’ knowledge in Bhutan, which will be useful to improve farm management practices that will benefit apple quality and productivity, as well as pollinator conservation.

Apples are one of the most important global crops that relies heavily on insect pollination, which has been shown to increase apple production and value. However, recent reports indicate that apple production has been declining in certain regions, including in Bhutan. One of the potential causes of declining production are pollination deficits driven by a low abundance and diversity of pollinators, a phenomenon that has received little attention in Bhutan to date. Here, we present the first study examining the diversity of flying insects in Bhutanese apple orchards in relation to apple quality. During the apple flowering season, 1,006 insects comprising 44 unique (morpho-)species from the orders Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera were recorded using a standardized method of passive and active trapping within nine different orchards in Thimphu, Paro, and Haa districts, in the western part of Bhutan. During the harvest season, 495 apples were collected from these nine orchards, and we measured five different parameters; weight, size, sugar concentration, seed number, and malformation score. The most dominant flower visitors across all orchards were honey bees (mostly Apis mellifera, followed by A. cerana and A. dorsata). Orchards with a higher abundance of flying insects (both managed and wild) had better apple quality (weight, size and sugar concentration). Contrary to reports from other regions of the world, flower visitor diversity did not correlate with the quality of the apples. This represents the first study reporting on apple pollination in Bhutan and highlights the importance of pollinators and reinforces the need to develop pollinator friendly practices to ensure sustainable apple production.

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