Both traditional and technical knowledge of farmers regarding the breeding and reproductive systems of their crops are insufficiently assessed at the global level. As far as we know, no other study is directly devoted to perception and beliefs of contemporary farmers regarding plant reproduction.
Quite recently, this subject started to be partially assessed in link with the issue of pollinator declines. At the global scale, this declines began to receive widespread attention in 2006. It has raised concerns regarding potential risks to global food security and economic development. The total economic risk due to pollinator loss and its consequences was estimated to more than USD300 billion per year (Bauer and Wing, 2010). Some regions of the world, such as Africa, could suffer much heavier burdens than others.
Most of studies related to pollinator’s decline are dealing with ecological, biological or phytochemical aspects. Few of these studies are devoted to farmer’s perceptions. In a recent paper defining priorities for research and development in the management of pollination services for agriculture in Africa, the interest of understanding farmer’s perception of plant reproduction is not even mentioned (Gemmill-Herren et al., 2014). In this area, the few studies devoted to farmer’s perceptions are directly focused on pollinators and insecticides. These studies do not assess farmer’s views on the reproduction of their crops.
In Uganda, up to 70% of the interviewed farmers did not understand what pollination meant (Munyuli, 2011). About 90% of them were not aware of the role played by bees in coffee yield increase. Similarly, in Western Kenya, Kasina et al. (2009) showed that most farmers were not aware of the importance of pollination for crop production. In Nepal, all respondents agreed on decreasing of insect pollinators’ population at present as compared to ten years ago (Pudasaini et al., 2016); Majority of respondents (56.67%) perceived that pesticides were the major cause of this decline. The way these Nepalese farmers perceive plant reproduction was not assessed. The mechanism of plant reproduction was probably taught to some of the farmers during the interviews by the surveyors.
A recent study was conducted among lowbush blueberry growers in Maine, USA (Hanes et al., 2015). The questionnaire started by questions such as « How important do you think native bees are for pollinating blueberries? ». When asked how nature benefits their farm, almost half of farmers tagged the “pollination box” of the questionnaires Their real knowledge about plant reproduction was not assessed. Same kind of study was also previously conducted in New Zealand (Sandhu et al, 2007). Although conventional farmers depend heavily on external chemical inputs, they rated key environmental services as very important for their farming. The top five were pollination, soil fertility, food production, soil erosion control and hydrological flow.
Bauer, D. M., & Wing, I. S. (2010). Economic consequences of pollinator declines: a synthesis. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 39(3), 368-383.
Gemmill-Herren, B., Aidoo, K., Kwapong, P., Martins, D., Kinuthia, W., Gikungu, M., & Eardley, C. (2014). Priorities for research and development in the management of pollination services for agriculture in Africa. J Pollination Ecol, 12, 40-51.
Munyuli, T. (2011). Farmers’ perceptions of pollinators’ importance in coffee production in Uganda. Agricultural Sciences, 2(03), 318.
Kasina, J. M., Mburu, J., Kraemer, M., & Holm-Mueller, K. (2009). Economic benefit of crop pollination by bees: a case of Kakamega small-holder farming in western Kenya. Journal of economic entomology, 102(2), 467-473.
Pudasaini, R., Thapa, R. B., & Tiwari, S. (2016). Farmers Perception on Effect of Pesticide on Insect Pollinators at Padampur and Jutpani Vdcs, Chitwan, Nepal. International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, 4(1), 64-66.
Hanes, S. P., Collum, K. K., Hoshide, A. K., & Asare, E. (2015). Grower perceptions of native pollinators and pollination strategies in the lowbush blueberry industry. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 30(02), 124-131.
Sandhu, H. S., Wratten, S. D., & Cullen, R. (2007). From poachers to gamekeepers: perceptions of farmers towards ecosystem services on arable farmland. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 5(1), 39-50.