A farm-level ecological-economic approach of the inclusion of pollination services in arable crop farms

Abstract

Modern agricultural systems use both managed and wild bees in order to secure the provision of pollination services. However, the decline of both bee species due to the increased use of pesticides raises concerns for the supply of pollination services in agriculture. Because European policies seem ineffective in safeguarding bees as they fail to address farmers’ socio-economic issues, farmers’ adoption rate of friendlier practices by pollinators remains limited. This study uses a farm-level ecological-economic model to explore the potential impacts of changing policy intervention on the provision of pollination services and on farmers’ incomes in two characteristic farms in Southwestern France. Moreover, it integrates the economic importance of behavioral interactions between managed and wild bees on crop production. The model assesses farmers’ adoption decisions about alternative practices under risk aversion through an optimization choice among several crops, practices (novel/conventional), variable inputs, and pollination activity. The results show that a knowledge of bees’ complementarity may facilitate farmers’ adoption decisions. Furthermore, they highlight that different levels of Agri-Environmental Schemes and penalties can be efficiently targeted to encourage the implementation of new farming practices in order to preserve pollination services and maintain economically viable farms.