by: CropLife International

Consumers rely on farmers to deliver everything from fruit to nuts, but farmers need the help of the honey bee to help pollinate these food crops around the world. In order to continue delivering consumers their watermelons and blueberries in the future, farmers and researchers are working together to look for new ways to ensure the well-being of honey bees.

The 11^th annual national survey of honey bee colonies was recently released and reports of seasonal honey bee losses across the United States continue to be of great concern. The Varroa mite – a parasite that attaches to the body of a honey bee or honey bee larva, weakening the bee’s immune system and spreading viruses – is thought to be a leading contributor to honey bee losses. Finding safe and sustainable solutions to control these dangerous parasitic mites is critical and scientists at Monsanto are researching a product that aims to control Varroa mite infestations, improving bee health and colony survival.

The product is fed to honey bees in a sugar syrup that can dial down gene activity through a natural process called RNA interference, which can suppress the mite’s gene, but is harmless to honey bees. The appeal of this approach is the ability to target just the Varroa mite, while reducing the application of chemical pesticides in honey bee colonies. Controlling the Varroa mite, safely and sustainably, is the goal of all of us in modern agriculture.

Field trials with the product will be conducted in 2017 throughout beekeeping areas of North America. If successful, it may take the might out of the mite.

Jerry Hayes is Honey Bee Health Lead at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Mo.

By: CropLife International

For 1.3 billion people working in agriculture around the world, farming is their primary source of income, so a harvest devastated by poor conditions can greatly impact their livelihoods. Having access to the latest plant science technologies not only helps these farmers better control pests and difficult conditions, but also improve their incomes and their lives. Hear from some farmers on how improved technologies have allowed them to invest more into their farms, create better lives and enjoy more free time.

U.S. Farmer Bill Horan says that biotechnology has given farm families one of the most precious gifts of all: time. “Part of that time I’m with my family, which allows me to be a better husband and a better father … those are gifts that were never part of the intention of the biotech revolution but they are absolutely changing rural America.”

“I learned about agrochemicals and how they are applied, and based on that, my yield has increased three-fold,” notes Honduran farmer Celia Mejia Dominguez. “In the past, we didn’t even have running water. Now I see a future for my children.”

Biotech cotton has dramatically improved profits and therefore, the livelihood of Indian farmer Goginei Brahmayya. “We are now economically sound and now have good food to eat and better clothes to wear,” he says. The extra income also allowed him to pay for his daughter’s master degree.

Honduran farmer Emiliano Dominguez credits agricultural training and technologies with his livelihood as he says his farm would have no profit without them. “I am really happy for my children, because they now have all these things I didn’t have when I was growing up,” he says.