PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE FOR POLLINATORS

Threats to pollinators and pollination services that support agriculture and provide benefits to people are a worldwide problem. AGRI4POL’s ambition is to assist the transition of agriculture from being a pressure on pollinators to becoming a positive force for managing and restoring pollinator biodiversity, crop pollination services, and co-benefits to ecosystems and people. To achieve this transition towards more pollinator friendly farming systems and value chains, AGRI4POL will advance scientific understanding of crop farming system-pollinator relationships from the crop gene to the agroecosystem. By evaluating the genetic basis of crop floral traits attracting and rewarding crop pollinators, we will identify candidate crop lines suitable for breeding future pollinator-smart varieties. We will study how pollinator-crop relationships are modified in space and time, by the diversity and rotation of crop species and varieties, by ecological infrastructure (EI) comprising landscape features and non-crop habitats, and by future climate or land-use change. Synthesising this information from the gene to agroecosystem scale will allow us to provide integrated recommendations for optimising landscapes for crop pollination, pollinator biodiversity and multiple ecosystem benefits. AGRI4POL research will be framed and supported by early and sustained multi-actor engagement along agri-food chains to assure its relevance and the acceptability of management options to farmers and society. This multi-actor approach will also enable assessments of the socio-economic and policy obstacles and opportunities affecting the feasibility and uptake of pollinator-friendly farming at [sub]national, European and international scales. AGRI4POL will therefore showcase to farmers, agri-food actors, policymakers and society the importance of pollinator-friendly farming to food security and sustainability goals (EC Green Deal, Nature Restoration Law; UN SDGs).

AGRI4POL makes significant scientific contributions by advancing research in four key areas. First, it innovates in Ecological Intensification of Agriculture (EIA) by developing a pollinator-friendly farming system that integrates agroecological practices, such as zero-pesticide farming, crop diversification, and ecological infrastructure, to enhance biodiversity and climate resilience. Second, it addresses socio-economic barriers to adopting pollinator-friendly farming by analyzing constraints and identifying opportunities for farmers and policymakers, facilitating real-world implementation. Third, the project tackles climate change challenges by using trait matching and response-effect models to predict climate-driven disruptions in crop-pollinator interactions, ensuring the resilience of future farming systems. Finally, AGRI4POL expands its global impact through an international collaboration with a Chinese-funded mirror project, adapting its research to diverse biogeographic and socio-economic conditions, thereby contributing to sustainable agricultural solutions worldwide.

In Slovenia, the project will conduct a discrete choice experiment with consumers to determine consumer preferences for pollinator-friendly food products (i.e. produced in a way that helps pollinator populations recover). This research will contribute to a better understanding of consumer preferences in Slovenia and their awareness of the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity. At the same time, the research will provide key information for the development of potential market-based schemes for nature conservation, which could be an important lever for improving nature conservation in agricultural ecosystems in Slovenia.