Optimising pollination of Vicia faba for enhanced crop yield and to support biodiversity

PhD (CTP/ PGRO/ Cambridge University):

Pollination, and therefore maintaining a good supply of pollinators, is essential to food security, however climate change and modern agricultural practises have lead to a decline in pollinator populations in many parts of the world. Flowering crops such as Vicia faba can provide a very important food source to pollinators such as bees, aiding in maintaining biodiversity in otherwise quite intensely farmed and nectar poor agricultural landscapes.

 Vicia faba is a legume crop grown across the world for both animal feed and human consumption and is hugely important within food security due to its high protein content. Recent reports suggest that pollination service is limiting yields in V. faba so optimising the pollination of this crop to make it more stable is therefore of particular interest. Breeding programmes aiming to  improve yield often focus on agronomic traits, however the potential of focussing on floral traits to attract more pollinators demonstrates great potential while aiding pollinator populations.

This PhD aims to identify breeding targets to enhance pollination of Vicia faba while also increasing the support this crop can provide to vital pollinators. Using a combination of analytical, molecular genetic and behavioural ecology techniques the scent and UV patterning of commercially important V. faba lines, and how these affect the behaviour and visitation rates of bumblebees (the main pollinator of V. faba), will be explored.  

 Additionally, this project aims to investigate the impact of flower-rich margins on yield; whether margins attract more pollinators and generally increase the number of pollinators in the area or whether they actually attract pollinators away from the crop.

In combination, these aims will provide important insights into how we can optimise the yield of V. faba while also aiding in increasing local pollinator populations.

Sponsors:

Student:

Lottie Apsey

Start Date: October 2023

Duration of study: 4 years