SACRAMENTO, Calif. (PRWEB)
June 22, 2022

With the kickoff of National Pollinator Week, Western Plant Health (WPH) today underscored the critical role farmers play in protecting California’s wide range of biodiversity and the health of its pollinator populations.

“As stewards of the land, farmers continue to adopt many practices beneficial to pollinators,” said Renee Pinel, President/CEO of Western Plant Health. “This includes creating pollinator-friendly perimeter habitat, preserving open spaces, nourishing the soil with fertilizers, and planting cover crops, hedgerows, and trees that attract pollinators.”

She said that farmers also apply modern pesticides that target only the intended harmful pest. This includes invasive species that can wipe out California’s unique ecosystem, which supports the state’s native plants and insects, including pollinators.

“It is important to raise awareness about the connection between farmers and pollinator protection,” Pinel said. “While it is not widely understood or appreciated, pesticides are essential to protecting biodiversity– especially from the invasive species of non-native plants, insects, aquatic life, and animals.”

She cited several examples in which pesticides were considered the best or only way to protect native California plant or animal habitats:

• 
  TheVarroa “destructor” Mite, introduced from Asia. It is regarded as the primary threat to bees and other pollinators.
• The Mediterranean Fruit Fly and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter were introduced into the state from elsewhere only to destroy crops and residential fruit trees that pollinators depend on for food.
• Dutch Elm disease has killed several thousand elms in California, and millions nationwide due to an invasive bark beetle, eliminating habitat sources of pollinators.
• A wide range of invasive plants take over the land, eliminating the native plants that provide food and nutrients to native pollinators.

Appreciation for this critical link extends beyond the farm community as it becomes better understood that farmers and the environment share mutual interests and a symbiotic relationship.

“People are starting to recognize that farmers are the original environmentalists,” said Pinel. “No one cares more about protecting their land, pollinators, and a biodiverse ecosystem than the people whose survival depends on them.”

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