Fecha de publicación: 09/06/2024 Fuente: ISHS (International Society for Horticultural Science) Post date: Sunday 9 June 2024
Author:
ISHS Secretariat

Food production across the globe is threatened by pervasive drivers of food insecurity such as climate change, scarcity of agricultural resources and human population growth. Vertical farming (VF) technologies offer promising contributions within a sustainable food production framework by alleviating the stress posed by these drivers. However, VF encounters some obstacles, in that these systems are vastly expensive to establish and are constrained to cultivating crops or varieties that are either self-pollinating or would require manual pollination, further increasing labour costs. The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of insect pollination within VF systems, to potentially decrease labour costs and produce high-quality products. In this pilot experiment, a colony of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) was introduced within a climate-controlled chamber, simulating the conditions of a VF to assess bumblebee behaviour and response within an indoor system with artificial lighting. Four light treatments were assessed: full white, red:blue in the ratio of 3 (RB3), RB3 with an addition of white and dark. Ornamental cyclamens (Cyclamen persicum v14) were placed under the lights as incentives or baits to stimulate bumblebee activity to determine if they a) exited the hive, b) responded adversely to this synthetic environment, and c) recognised the plants under different light spectra and took up nectar and/or pollen. It was observed that bumblebees exited the hive to visit the plants under all light treatments except the dark, confirming their potential to act as pollinating agents in VF systems. However, as the bumblebees did not return to their hive, we are adjusting the lighting to mirror the natural, crepuscular phase that would direct them back to the hive. Once we have established this, we will explore the introduction of UV and green light to the spectra used, assess if their floral visitations translate into improved fruit yield and then introduce the bumblebees within an active VF.
Agata Morelli won the ISHS Young Minds Award for the best fast talk presentation at the III International Workshop on Vertical Farming (VertiFarm2024) in Italy in January 2024.
Agata Morelli, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 42, 40127, Bologna, Italy, e-mail: agata.morelli2@unibo.it
The article is available in Chronica HorticulturaeTags: bumblebeespollinatingvertical farmingCategories: Young Minds Award Winners