Almond Board Supplies Seed Grants to Assist Pollinator Wellness and Biodiversity

MODESTO, Calif., Feb. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Honey bees and native pollinators will come across a lot more forage in California’s almond orchards this spring as a consequence of the almond community’s 5-place Pollinator Protection System. Announced 1 year ago by the Almond Board of California (ABC), this plan expands the industry’s extended-standing commitment to studying, safeguarding and improving bee wellbeing.

A single of the 5 tenets of the Pollinator Safety Prepare – expanding floral range on farm – led the Almond Board to develop and fund the Bee+ Scholarship plan which presents grants to farmers to aid offset the price of planting forage and habitat in and around their orchards. This hard work led to 135 new almond farmers signing up for Job Apis m.’s Seeds for Bees method and added pollinator habitat to 14,778 acres of almond orchards, a 22% raise to the footprint of almond pollinator habitat in the final calendar year.

Another element of the Bee+ Scholarship inspired farmer participation in Pollinator Partnership’s Bee Helpful Farming program. To day, 54,202 acres of almonds have been Bee Helpful licensed, meaning farmers are actively defending pollinator populations by utilizing constructive, incremental variations on-farm.

“As a partnership intended by nature, almonds get our duty for honey bee well being seriously,” said Josette Lewis, PhD, chief scientific officer for the Almond Board. “As a result of these efforts, we diversify and develop the healthy forage that honey bees find in almond orchards each individual year although extending our efforts outside the orchard to reward native pollinators as well.”

Ben King, a fourth-era almond farmer based in Colusa, Calif., has planted go over crops on his farm for far more than five years. “It will come out of a love for bees,” King said, “and recognizing the relevance of using what mother nature gives you and acting as a steward.”

As almonds are the initial commercial crop in North The us to bloom, King notes that “almond orchards are the initially end for the honey bees, and the trees’ pollen is their 1st big supply of nutrition. As a final result, hives frequently leave more robust as they transfer on to pollinate other crops across the place, an effect amplified with the addition of more floral biodiversity by using address crops.”

By investing in blooming protect crops, King has not only observed a advantage to pollinators, but also to the in general well being of his orchard, primarily as it relates to soil. “Soil is the basis of farming and by planting pollinator habitat you are building a healthy ecosystem,” notes King. Go over crops also give optimistic impacts on carbon sequestration and can boost the amount of money of dampness that can be saved in the soil.

“It is crystal clear this is the route ahead,” King said. “But there is a long-expression financial commitment involved with building these alterations. The good thing is, the Almond Board is progressive and supports these initiatives on farmers’ behalf.”

In 2020, ABC invested far more than $750,000 in actions that straight reward pollinator overall health. This involved $300,000 in incentives and specialized guidance to expand pollinator forage and habitat on-farm. ABC will carry on to spend in giving applications and choices to farmers to go on expanding pollinator habitat in 2021.

Bolstering these endeavours, ABC and the College of California, Davis have partnered to publish a cover crop management information for almond farmers. The culmination of yrs of research on the management and gains of include crops for the two pollinators and soil wellness, this useful tutorial will be released this summer months and generate adoption of a exercise which promotes biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

This function builds on a longstanding motivation to pollinator well being. Considering that 1995, the California almond local community has supported 126 investigation assignments – far more than any other crop team – to deal with the five big variables impacting honey bee overall health, such as varroa mites, pest and illness administration, lack of genetic range, pesticide exposure, and access to forage and nutrition.

To discover a lot more about the mutually advantageous marriage concerning almonds and bees, along with the California almond community’s motivation to defending pollinators, visit Almonds.com/Bees.

About the Almond Board of California
California almonds make lifestyle far better by what we increase and how we develop. The Almond Board of California promotes natural, wholesome and excellent almonds as a result of management in strategic industry development, ground breaking study, and accelerated adoption of sector finest tactics on behalf of the more than 7,600 almond farmers and processors in California, most of whom are multi-generational family functions. Recognized in 1950 and centered in Modesto, California, the Almond Board of California is a non-earnings group that administers a grower-enacted Federal Advertising Purchase beneath the supervision of the United States Section of Agriculture. For a lot more information on the Almond Board of California or almonds, visit Almonds.com or check out California Almonds on FacebookTwitterPinterestInstagram and the Almond Living Journal.

Call:
Hannalea Resnik
[email protected]
(212) 601-8217

Resource Almond Board of California

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