Bayer, Embrapa to study relationship between pollinators and soybeans

Bayer and the Brazilian Company of Agricultural Research (Embrapa) have announced a partnership to study the relationship between pollinating insects and soybean production systems. The goal is to expand scientific knowledge on the direct and indirect effects of these agents on crop development.

"It is a project with great international relevance, and it is extremely important for Brazil. The issue is understudied here, and we are sure that we will be positively surprised, establishing technological opportunities that are very interesting for the soybean production system and mapping the direct and indirect impacts of pollinators in this system,” explained Décio Gazzoni, a researcher at Embrapa Soja (Embrapa’s soybean unit) and project leader.

The agreement will last for five years and considers five important lines of research in six production regions of the country. One study will examine the habits of pollinators on crops, with the goal of proposing solutions to preserve the health of these insects: “With a deeper understanding, we can formulate strategies that align plague control with having a minimal impact on pollinators,” stated Gazzoni.

"At Bayer, we’re committed to improving our understanding of the health requirements of important beneficial insects that contribute by pollinating different crops. We have spent over 30 years, working globally, on this front because we understand that pollinators are essential for sustainability in agriculture. This partnership with Embrapa will help us develop new studies based on the real situation in Brazil,” noted Bernard Jacqmin, agronomic development director at Bayer.

The research work will seek to understand the composition of volatiles issued by soybean plants that increase the plants' attractiveness or repellence for pollinators. These breakthroughs open the door to new research on genetic improvement: “One of our active hypotheses is the presence of pollinating insects could encourage the fertilization of soybean flowers, thus increasing yields,” remarked Gazzoni.

In another study, the diversity of domestic native bees will be examined along with their population size and their relationship with soybean yields. Besides examining pollinators, Bayer and Embrapa will perform evaluations of genetic materials for bedbug resistance to find new methods of controlling these insects. The financial details of this partnership were not released.