Courgette Production: Pollination Demand, Supply, and Value
dc.contributor.author | Knapp, JL | |
dc.contributor.author | Osborne, JL | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2017-08-17T13:51:39Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2017-07-13 | |
dc.description.abstract | Courgette (Cucurbita pepo L.) production in the United Kingdom is estimated to be worth £6.7 million. However, little is known about this crop’s requirement for insect-mediated pollination (pollinator dependence) and if pollinator populations in a landscape are able to fulfil its pollination needs (pollination deficit). Consequently, pollination experiments were conducted over 2 yr to explore pollinator dependence and pollination deficit in field-grown courgette in the United Kingdom. Results showed that pollination increased yield by 39% and there was no evidence of pollination limitation on crop yield. This was evidenced by a surprisingly low pollination deficit (of just 3%) and no statistical difference in yield (length grown, circumference, and weight) between open- and hand-pollinated crops. Nonetheless, the high economic value of courgettes means that reducing even the small pollination deficit could still increase profit by ∼£166/ha. Interestingly, 56% of fruit was able to reach marketable size and shape without any pollination. Understanding a crop’s requirement for pollinators can aid growers in their decision-making about what varieties and sites should be used. In doing so, they may increase their agricultural resilience and further their economic advantage. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | This work was funded as part of PhD studentship (CP118) sponsored by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, United Kingdom. J.O. was also supported by a grant from the Natural Environment Research Council United Kingdom [NE/J014893/1]. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 13 July 2017 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1093/jee/tox184 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/28956 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) / Entomological Society of America | en_GB |
dc.rights | © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | en_GB |
dc.subject | agroecology | en_GB |
dc.subject | cucurbit | en_GB |
dc.subject | economic valuation | en_GB |
dc.subject | fruit set | en_GB |
dc.subject | pollination dependence | en_GB |
dc.title | Courgette Production: Pollination Demand, Supply, and Value | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2017-08-17T13:51:39Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0022-0493 | |
dc.description | This is the final version of the article. Available from OUP via the DOI in this record. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Journal of Economic Entomology | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.