What Can Research on Pollination Learn From FarmBioNet Results?
By Jana Bundschuh and Julia Fritzsche from ZALF
Photographer: © Westerhoff 2026
FarmBioNet’s partner Jana Bundschuh from Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) shared insights on recent results from FarmBioNet at the 73rd Annual Conference of the Association of Institutes for Bees Research. The conference in March was organized by the Institute for Bee Conservation at Julius Kühn Institute Braunschweig (JKI). The institute was celebrating its 10 th anniversary with about 160 guests.
FarmBioNet’s contribution explored how practices for supporting pollinators can be increasingly integrated into agricultural systems with a focus on the challenges between implementation and incentive design.
Pesticide Reduction, Tree Planting and Hedgerow Maintenance Contribute to Biodiversity and Positive long-term Farm Economics
Drawing on qualitative data collected through surveys and group discussions involving National Network member from 11 European Union (EU) countries and Switzerland, our research highlights key findings about farmers’ perceptions and experiences with pollinator-friendly farming practices. These include: Pesticide reduction, tree planting, and hedgerow maintenance are widely recognized for their dual benefits: enhancing biodiversity and contributing, positively to long-term farm economics. The evaluation varies considerably between countries. In contrast, flowering strips, bee scrapes, and bee hotels are often seen as economically less beneficial, despite being acknowledged for their ecological value. These insights highlight that environmental goals need to be translated into everyday farm management. The specific setting and needs of every single far play a central role in the decision to adopt biodiversity-friendly farming practices.
Major Barrier for More Biodiversity-Friendly Farming: Lack of Knowledge on Existing Support
A major barrier identified was the limited awareness of available agri-environmental schemes. Many farmers and advisors lack full knowledge of existing support mechanisms, and a significant proportion (34%) reported that they did not understand how these systems work. Timing of practice adoption also plays a crucial role: We found that farmers implement practices first, before they engage with formal incentive programs. By analyzing feedback from workshops with stakeholders, we identified the following, critical areas where targeted communication and training could improve uptake and effectiveness: Clearer practical information like demonstrations and sharing of best practices Strengthening farmers’ networks to facilitate the adoptions of both innovations and traditional approaches from neighbors Integrating education on relationships between agriculture and biodiversity in curricula Increasing public information, so consumers better understand and value biodiversity-friendly products.
Adopting One Biodiversity-Friendly Farming Practice is an Important Step Towards a Broader Adoption
This work contributes to a deeper conceptual understanding of the interplay between pollinator-friendly practices and incentive structures: Single practice implementation can be considered as an entrance point to the broader adoption of biodiversity-friendly farming practices. More results from FarmBioNet in upcoming publications and events will be shared here in our blog.
Read more about Key Findings for Wild European Pollinators.