Browsing by Author "Xie, Gang"

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Enhancing knowledge among smallholders on pollinators and supporting field margins for sustainable food security
(Elsevier Ltd., 2019-08) Elisante, Filemon; Ndakidemi, Patrick; Arnold, Sarah; Belmain, Steven; Gurr, Geoff; Darbyshire, Iain; Xie, Gang; Tumbo, Julie; Stevenson, Philip
Agro-ecological intensification (AEI) harnesses natural processes, such as pollination, that support sustainable crop production and can buffer against future food security risks. However, the transition from conventional agriculture, which relies on inputs that can damage natural ecosystem processes, to more sustainable food production under AEI, is knowledge-intensive. Here, we investigated knowledge gaps among smallholder farmers about pollinators and field margins in a bean agri-system in Tanzania. While 77% of farmers were familiar with and identified honeybees correctly prior to training, only 52% understood their role as a pollinator of crops. Furthermore, 80% and 98% of farmers were unaware of the significance of wild (solitary) bees or the importance of hoverflies as pollinators. A high level of synthetic agrochemical use was reported for the management of pests and weeds, particularly in the more agriculturally intensive production systems. However, an end-line survey conducted one year after training showed an increase in knowledge and the majority of farmers, 99%, 54% and 62% subsequently recognised honeybees, hoverflies and solitary bees respectively, by name. Furthermore, 95%, 69% and 60% of farmers understood the importance of honeybees, hoverflies and solitary bees respectively, as crop pollinators and natural enemies (for hoverflies). Similarly, a majority of farmers recognised the benefits of biopesticides as environmentally safer over synthetic pesticides as well as the value of field margins in supporting pollinators and other ecosystem services. We argue that, improving understanding among smallholder farmers of ecosystem services and their ecological requirements is both feasible and essential to achieving sustainable intensification in small holder farming systems.
Insect pollination is important in a smallholder bean farming system.
(PeerJ, 2020-10-20) Elisante, Filemon; Ndakidemi, Patrick; Arnold, Sarah; Belmain, Steven; Gurr, Geoff; Darbyshire, Iain; Xie, Gang; Stevenson, Philip
Many crops are dependent on pollination by insects. Habitat management in agricultural landscapes can support pollinator services and even augment crop production. Common bean ( L.) is an important legume for the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in many low-income countries, particularly so in East Africa. While this crop is autogamous, it is frequently visited by pollinating insects that could improve yields. However, the value of pollination services to common beans (Kariasii) yield is not known. We carried out pollinator-exclusion experiments to determine the contribution of insect pollinators to bean yields. We also carried out a fluorescent-dye experiment to evaluate the role of field margins as refuge for flower-visitors. Significantly higher yields, based on pods per plant and seeds per pod, were recorded from -pollinated and -pollinated flowers compared to plants from which pollinators had been excluded indicating that flower visitors contribute significantly to bean yields. Similarly, and -pollinated plants recorded the highest mean seed weight. Extrapolation of yield data to field scale indicated a potential increase per hectare from 681 kg in -pollinated beans to 1,478 kg in -pollinated beans indicating that flower visitors contributed significantly to crop yield of beans. Our marking study indicated that flower-visiting insects including bees, flies and lepidopterans moved from the field margin flowers into the bean crop. Overall, these results show that insect pollinators are important for optimising bean yields and an important food security consideration on smallholder farms. Field margin vegetation also provides habitat for flower-visiting insects that pollinate beans. Hence, non-crop habitats merit further research focusing on establishing which field margin species are most important and their capacity to support other ecosystem services such as natural pest regulation or even pests.