Why farmers love beekeepers: Bees give Irish crops €53m lift
Irish farmers are seeing the benefits of supporting the EU's pollinator plan, protecting honey-producing bees and promoting biodiversity on the farm. Picture: iStock
Biodiversity in a European and National context is declining. It underpins every facet of our lives, and it’s been proven that exposure to nature has a positive effect on people’s mental health and sense of wellbeing.
Biodiversity provides vital ecosystem services, free of cost, to one of our most important economic sectors, agriculture, with the value of nutrient cycling by soil organisms alone estimated to be worth €1 billion a year. Also, the direct annual value of insects via pollination of human food crops has been estimated as at least €53 million in Ireland, while the indirect value provided through pollination of forage crops such as clover and the maintenance of a functioning ecosystem, is likely substantially higher.
