Ag Groups Welcome US National Pollinator Strategy

Manufacturers of agricultural and agrochemical products with business in the US have welcomed the release of the White House Pollinator Health Task Force's National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.

Jim Blome, president and CEO of US-based Bayer CropScience LP, said the multinational group is "particularly encouraged by the specific commitment to invest more into research to improve our understanding of pollinator health."

"Everything from grower decisions, consumer choice and regulatory actions must be based in sound science and the strategy's call for more research will help ensure that we have the best science available," Blome stressed.

CropLife America praised the task force for creating a multi-pronged, coordinated approach, while the US Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) applauded the announcement of the strategy and the companion Pollinator Research Action Plan released on May 19.

Although details of the strategy have not been released, the report apparently does not identify a single factor in the sharp decline of bee populations, linking the declines in substantial part to the introduction of the parasitic Varroa mite, along with other factors impacting pollinator health such as access to adequate forage and nutrition.

Bayer and Switzerland's Syngenta, both leading producers of neonicotinoid pesticides, have slammed as one-sided moves by international authorities in the EU, the US and Canada to restrict the products they have identified as principal culprits in the mass bee deaths.

The agrochemical groups insist that the causes are multi-faceted. Bayer commended the task force's call for extensive new research into all aspects of pollinator health and the unprecedented commitment to increase pollinator habitat and forage.