Uncertainties in the value and opportunity costs of pollination services

Magrach, Ainhoa; Champetier, Antoine; Krishnan, Smitha; Boreux, Virginie; Ghazoul, Jaboury

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13399

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…In this case study, our results were robust to variation in these key variables—positive outcomes for agricultural profits and net forest area relative to the baseline were achieved in most cases. Varying the discount rate used to calculate NPV had the biggest impact on results and as such, it is a factor that must be contemplated carefully when using these rates to plan restoration activities over time [ 75 , 76 ]. Specifically, higher discount rates reduce the contribution of future economic benefits and costs to the NPV calculation and are therefore likely to favour agricultural production (with immediate benefits) over restoration (with a slower accrual of benefits).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal restoration for pollination services increases forest cover while doubling agricultural profits

et al. 2023

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Pollinators are currently facing dramatic declines in abundance and richness across the globe. This can have profound impacts on agriculture, as 75% of globally common food crops benefit from pollination services. As many native bee species require natural areas for nesting, restoration efforts within croplands may be beneficial to support pollinators and enhance agricultural yields. Yet, restoration can be challenging to implement due to large upfront costs and the removal of land from production. Designing sustainable landscapes will require planning approaches that include the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of pollination services flowing from (restored) vegetation into crops. We present a novel planning framework to determine the best spatial arrangement for restoration in agricultural landscapes while accounting for yield improvements over 40 years following restoration. We explored a range of production and conservation goals using a coffee production landscape in Costa Rica as a case study. Our results show that strategic restoration can increase forest cover by approximately 20% while doubling collective landholder profits over 40 years, even when accounting for land taken out of production. We show that restoration can provide immense economic benefits in the long run, which may be pivotal to motivating local landholders to undertake conservation endeavours in pollinator-dependent croplands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal restoration for pollination services increases forest cover while doubling agricultural profits

et al. 2023

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“…A second major method of valuing pollination services is the replacement cost method. With this method value is approximated with the cost of substituting technologies to pollination; either the rental cost of hired bees, labour cost for hand pollination or machine plus labour cost for pollen dusting (Magrach, Champetier, Krishnan, Boreux, & Ghazoul, 2019). The criticism of this technique lies in the fact that it is based on cost of substitute methods rather than willingness to pay.…”

Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing Pollination as an Ecosystem Services: The Case of Hand Pollination for Cocoa Production in Ghana

Jebuni-Dotsey¹,

Senadza²,

Akpalu³

2023

JAS

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The promotion of cocoa farm productivity has necessitated the intensification of input use with ensuing loss of natural pollinators. Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD) remedy to declining pollinator population is addressed in the rolling out of hand pollination in the 2016/17 crop year. Applying contingent valuation on field data covering 608 farmers in five cocoa growing regions, we estimate the value of pollinator services to the cocoa industry in Ghana and farmers willingness to pay for the service. We find that cocoa farmers in Ghana are willing to pay for hand pollination to improve on their farm yields. Farmers averagely value pollinator services at $1.3 per acre of land. Extrapolated to cover all cultivated cocoa lands for 2017/18 crop year, the value of pollinator services to Ghana’s cocoa industry is averagely $6.1 million per annum. Hand pollination can improve cocoa farms yields given the statistically significant mean difference in yields between hand-pollinated and non-hand-pollinated farms. Having established the loss to the cocoa industry from pollinator decline and the need for effective pollination to support crop productivity, it is imperative for COCOBOD to ramp up strategies at preserving cocoa farm ecology to safe guard the industry.

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“…However, a multi-year study showed yield and profitability of blueberry fields adjacent to native wildflower plantings were greater than fields without wildflowers and wildflower establishment costs could be recovered within 3-4 years (Blaauw and Isaacs, 2014). Landscape and management can influence the costs and benefits of maintaining or converting land into natural habitat that could benefit wild pollinators and their services (Magrach et al, 2019), underscoring the need for a robust understanding of these systems to develop accurate estimates for economic valuation. Of note is that blueberry is a perennial crop managed intensively for pest control.…”

Section: Economic Value Of Integrated Crop Pollinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few studies, in fact, have calculated the opportunity costs associated with converting land to other valuable uses. Some scenarios show the opportunity costs may outweigh the benefits accrued from additional wild pollination services (Magrach et al, 2019). More research should be dedicated to estimate opportunity costs against wild pollination benefits across different blueberry growing regions.…”

Section: Economic Value Of Integrated Crop Pollinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward evidence-based decision support systems to optimize pollination and yields in highbush blueberry

DeVetter

Chabert

Milbrath

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) is a globally important fruit crop that depends on insect-mediated pollination to produce quality fruit and commercially viable yields. Pollination success in blueberry is complex and impacted by multiple interacting factors including flower density, bee diversity and abundance, and weather conditions. Other factors, including floral traits, bee traits, and economics also contribute to pollination success at the farm level but are less well understood. As blueberry production continues to expand globally, decision-aid technologies are needed to optimize and enhance the sustainability of pollination strategies. The objective of this review is to highlight our current knowledge about blueberry pollination, where current research efforts are focused, and where future research should be directed to successfully implement a comprehensive blueberry pollination decision-making framework for modern production systems. Important knowledge gaps remain, including how to integrate wild and managed pollinators to optimize pollination, and how to provide predictable and stable crop pollination across variable environmental conditions. In addition, continued advances in pesticide stewardship are required to optimize pollinator health and crop outcomes. Integration of on- and off-farm data, statistical models, and software tools could distill complex scientific information into decision-aid systems that support sustainable, evidence-based pollination decisions at the farm level. Utility of these tools will require multi-disciplinary research and strategic deployment through effective extension and information-sharing networks of growers, beekeepers, and extension/crop advisors.

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Uncertainties in the value and opportunity costs of pollination services

Cited by 7 publications

References 51 publications

Optimal restoration for pollination services increases forest cover while doubling agricultural profits

Optimal restoration for pollination services increases forest cover while doubling agricultural profits

Valuing Pollination as an Ecosystem Services: The Case of Hand Pollination for Cocoa Production in Ghana

Toward evidence-based decision support systems to optimize pollination and yields in highbush blueberry

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