Bees are the most famous ones, but there are many pollinating insects and they are increasingly endangered. Biodiversity and agriculture would cease to exist without them. This is how and why we have to protect them.
Insects are very unpopular creatures and their role in nature has been, and still is, underestimated by many. Yet pollinating insects, in particular, are as small as they are essential. Pollinating insects feed on nectar in flowers and, when travelling from one plant to another, carry the pollen required to let plant species fertilise and reproduce. This symbiotic relationship between insects and plants helps us preserve biodiversity and bring its fruits to our dinner tables, enjoy diverse landscapes and uphold local culinary traditions. For example, hymenoptera, the category including bees, wasps and bumblebees, are responsible for helping many fruit trees reproduce. If one link in this chain breaks, there would be very serious consequences for agriculture, the environment and mankind. One of the main threats to pollinating insects is air pollution. For example, just think that bees can no longer smell flowers over 300 metres away. Other pollutants, such as pesticides and chemicals, jeopardise their health and interfere with their work. Agriculture can play its part in protecting these species, with investments in research and development which help adopt more environmentally-friendly growing methods in line with the “Farm to Fork” strategy, a crucial part of the European Green Deal. This strategy is designed to build a fairer, healthier and more environmentally-friendly food system focused on agri-food chain sustainability. This is the same approach behind the investments in research and development by Romagnoli F.lli, which have allowed the company to produce varieties of potato that are naturally resistant to the main diseases, with a view to sustainability for the entire potato supply chain. In this sense, the company is committed to supporting the farms that are part of our supply chain in adopting sustainable production models, capable of reducing the use of copper or synthetic plant protection products and supporting them in transposing increasingly strict European regulations in the field of plant protection through the constant support offered by our technical agronomic service. But all of us, in our own small way, can play our part in protecting these precious insects, for example, by avoiding the use of pesticides and planting nectar plants in our gardens and on our balconies.
