Farmers, agronomists and ecologists can now get a valuable insight into practical techniques to successfully establish and manage essential wildflower habitats, with a series of Operation Pollinator ‘How to ….’ video podcasts available on the Syngenta website, (www.syngenta.co.uk).

The initial tutorials, presented by renowned farm and wildlife specialist, Marek Nowakowski, detail the background of Operation Pollinator and the role of multifunctional landscape field margins in promoting farmland biodiversity and creating new habitat for pollinating insects, along with guidance on where to site areas around the farm, suitable seed selection and early establishment techniques.

 

As the season progresses, further videos will address issues of managing the margins and the field crops, in order to achieve the best possible results for farm biodiversity and environmental protection.

Syngenta UK Operation Pollinator Manager, Belinda Bailey, believed the videos would provide important information and practical tips for farmers and farm advisors in a fun, but fact-packed format. “Research has shown that by establishing good quality flowering habitats the level of many pollinating insects increase. Not only is this good for wildlife, but it also brings the potential for better quality and yields for crops which benefit from insect pollination.

“The quality of the habitat created has a particularly positive effect on wild bees and recent work looking at pollination in OSR suggests that the solitary bees are the most effective at carrying out the pollination in the crop,” she advised. Additionally, the Operation Pollinator initiative can play an important role in increasing overall farm biodiversity, protecting soil and water resources and meeting the objectives of Government and EU environmental schemes, as well as improving the public perception of farming.

 

The video tutorials are available free to watch on the Syngenta website. Click here to view.