[Pollinator] USDA, NRCS Grant to Pollinator Partnership and Ohio State University Partner to Evaluate Costs and Benefits of Pollinator-Beneficial Resource Strips in Vegetable Production Systems

[R. Thomas Van Arsdall]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) has awarded a matching Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) of
$183,954 to the Pollinator Partnership, the Ohio State University, and Grand
Valley State University to evaluate and communicate the ecological and
economic costs and benefits of incorporating floral resource strips into
vegetable production systems.  The project seeks to demonstrate what
pollinator habitat practices will work for vegetable producers, how they
will benefit and how pollinator habitat efforts can be integrated into USDA
conservation assistance and incentive programs.  

 

Click
<http://www.pollinator.org/pdfs/MediaReleaseP2CIGAward071709%20Final.pdf>
Here for Media Release, or go to http://www.pollinator.org/media.htm and
open "NRCS Grant-Big Boost for Bees and Bugs in Agriculture."

 

Mary Gardiner, Assistant Professor of Entomology at the Ohio State
University will lead the research component of this project.  The goal of
this type of habitat management is to enhance pollination and pest control
in adjacent crop fields.  Several studies examining these strips look
promising, and the next step is to fully evaluate the costs and benefits for
growers of implementing this technology. 


 


The 3-year project managed by the Pollinator Partnership focuses on
producing realistic, economically sound guidelines for floral resource
schemes for vegetable growers, building on important lessons learned from
the Pollinator Partnership's earlier pollinator research efforts.
Agricultural producers have stepped forward to provide project sites on
working farms.  Gardiner will advise a MS student who will manage a network
of project sites in Ohio, Montana and Arizona.  Dr. Stephen Buchmann,
adjunct associate professor at the University of Arizona, and author of "The
Forgotten Pollinators," will supervise work in Arizona and will coordinate
with Dr. Gardiner.  Economic analysis will be conducted by Dr. Erik Nordman,
Assistant Professor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
Extension activities including workshops and field days hosted within Ohio
will be coordinated by OSU Extension Educator Brad Bergefurd.

 

NRCS also awarded matching CIGs for important pollinator habitat projects to
The Xerces Society and the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District in
Sonoma County, California.  These Pollinator CIGs are examples of the strong
commitment by NRCS, under the leadership of Chief Dave White, to fully
implement the new conservation authorities for native and managed
pollinators in the 2008 farm bill.

 

R. Thomas (Tom) Van Arsdall, Director of Public Affairs

   Pollinator Partnership

   O-(540) 899-3023

   C-(703) 509-4746

   tva at pollinator.org

   Pollinator <http://www.pollinator.org/>  Partnership

   North American <http://www.nappc.org/>  Pollinator Protection Campaign
(NAPPC)

 

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