Economic contribution of pollinators estimated at $11.6 billion

The ecosystemic services provided by pollinating animals to Brazilian agriculture made an economic contribution estimated at $11.62 billion in 2018. The calculation takes into account the sum that would be spent by producers if pollinators did not play this role in food production.

The calculation was made by the Brazilian Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BPBES) and the Brazilian Network of Plant–Pollinator Interactions (Rebipp), which launched the Report on Pollination, Pollinators, and Food Production in Brazil, along with the Summary for Decision Makers, today (Feb. 6).

Study Coordinator Kayna Agostini, professor at the Federal University of São Carlos, explained that the research was carried out by 12 scientists throughout the country, and included surveys from over 400 publications. The result was submitted to 11 external revisers. The estimated amount, she said, is based on the services pollinators provide for food production.

“Passion fruit, for instance, requires that a bee—the large bumblebee—visit a flower and take the pollen to the stigma of another flower, which is the feminine counterpart. Only then can fruit production begin. If this transport is not done by the bee, the produce must hire people to perform the pollination manually, rubbing their hand on the flower and taking the pollen to the other one.”

This is the first survey of this kind in Brazil, which makes Brazil the first country to implement the recommendation of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, of the United Nations (UN). The global report on pollinators and food production was launched in 2016, and it suggests that countries should put together local studies on the topic.

Bee in action - Marcelo Casimiro Cavalcante/Rebipp

Pollinators and production

The economic survey comprised the production of 67 items. Soybeans account for 60 percent of the estimated value, followed by coffee (12 percent), oranges (5 percent), and apples (4 percent). The biological part of the study shows that the total of 191 items produced in the country, 114 (60 percent) are visited by pollinators; and of the 91 that depend on such ecosystemic service, 69 (76 percent) have the work of pollinators increase the quantity and/or quality of production. “This means a lot, and yields a great deal for producers,” Agostini said.

She went on to note that native pollinators are “much more efficient than [introduced] ones, like the European bee,” adding that they bring about a difference of up to 200 grams in a fruit, “which makes a lot of difference in the price at the shelf for the producer.” “So this calculation is estimated through the service pollinators provide for the production of foodstuffs. If I don’t have this pollinator, how much will a producer have to spend in order for these fruits, these grains, to be produced?” she said.

The report further notes that pollination is crucial for 35 percent of the items surveyed, 24 percent of which are highly dependent on them, ten percent only modestly so, and little for seven percent of the plants.

In Brazil, over 600 animal species visit farm production, at least 250 of which have pollination potential. Main pollinators include bees, with 66 percent of the species. Also on the list are beetles, butterflies, moths, birds, wasps, flies, bats, and bedbugs. Bees take part in the pollination of 80 percent of plants grown or wild, and are the sole pollinators for 65 percent of them.

In Brazil, over 600 animal species visit farm production, at least 250 of which have pollination potential - Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil

Risks and opportunities

Agostini made a point of mentioning the risks facing the pollinators—like the loss of their habitats, climate change, pollution, pesticides, invading species, diseases, and pathogens.

“There are many risks—among them pesticides. It becomes more and more alarming: just now, in January, 28 extremely toxic molecules—harmful to pollinators—were legalized. Another detrimental factor is habitat fragmentation—losing the native habitat so that pollinators can be near the places of food production. This is appalling in Brazil.”

On the other hand, the study brings a list of opportunities to be seized. “If you work with extensive farming and bring different types of plant together, you are offering more foodstuffs for pollinators, attracting more pollinators to the place. As for pesticides, what we should have is mitigating measures. I mentioned pesticides, but what can I do to address this issue? What are the real doses I have to administer? We see there’s not much control in this regard,” she said.

The BPBES platform was launched in November 2017 for the creation of the Brazilian Diagnosis on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the first of its kind directed at supporting the process of decision making in Brazil’s environmental issues.