VOICES: Valuing Orchard and Integrated Crop Ecosystem Services

农业和园艺业在一定程度上依赖于野生昆虫为作物授粉和控制害虫。这些野生昆虫种群反过来会受到农场和果园管理方式的影响，以及附近自然栖息地的存在。这些自然栖息地本身可能会受到农用化学品和附近农场做法的其他副产品的影响。这些昆虫提供的“生态系统服务”可能会影响作物价值、农村生计以及最终的出口收入，这些价值的分配可能会受到农场所有权和其他社会结构的影响。该项目将探讨这些问题，因为它们影响到南非开普敦地区的果园作物。这些作物既是当地农场就业和出口创收的主要来源，但生产的作物的数量和(特别是)质量严重取决于昆虫传粉者和水果害虫的天敌。我们将试验在果园中使用花卉资源种植，以鼓励传粉者和生防剂，进一步发展为果园作物提供时间和营养互补的定制混合物的方法。我们将探索果园的管理方式和靠近自然fynbos栖息地的相互作用如何影响作物的授粉成功和害虫的侵袭率。开普敦地区的自然生境是世界生物多样性热点，但这种多样性对授粉和生物防治服务的影响尚不清楚，果园对其周围栖息地的影响也是未知的。我们将衡量农场做法的差异和野生有益昆虫可获得性的差异如何影响水果产量和出口、国内或加工食品(例如果汁)市场的适宜性，从而如何影响作物价值和农场经济。我们还将研究水果生产产生的收入如何通过地方和国家经济分配，从而影响生计和福祉。将探讨建立已久的大型果园和最近通过BEE(黑人经济赋权)方案建立的果园在做法和成果方面的区别，以及居民和季节性劳动力之间的区别。

Agriculture and horticulture depend in part on wild insects to pollinate crops and control pests. These wild insect populations in turn can be affected by the ways farms and orchards are managed, and by the presence of natural habitats nearby. Those natural habitats themselves may be affected by agricultural chemicals and other by products of nearby farm practices. The "ecosystem services" provided by these insects can affect crop value, rural livelihoods and ultimately export income, and the distribution of these values may be affected by farm ownership and other social structures. This project will explore these issues as they affect orchard crops in the Cape region of South Africa. These crops are both a major source of local farm employment and of export earning, but the quantity and (especially) quality of crops produced depends critically on insect pollinators and natural enemies of fruit pests. We will experiment with the use of floral resource plantings on orchards to encourage pollinators and biocontrol agents, further developing the approach to develop bespoke mixes providing temporal and nutritional complementarity to orchard crops. We will explore how the way orchards are managed and the proximity to natural fynbos habitats interact to affect the pollination success of the crops and attack rates by pests. The natural habitats of the Cape region are a world biodiversity hotspot, but the effect of this diversity on pollination and biological control services is unknown, as is the effect of the orchards on their surrounding habitats. We will measure how differences in farm practices and differences in the availability of wild beneficial insects affect fruit production and suitability for export, domestic or processed food (e.g. juice) markets, and thus how it affects crop value and farm economics. We will also look at how the income generated by fruit production is distributed through the local and national economy, and thus the effects of livelihoods and wellbeing. Distinctions in practices and outcomes between large long-established orchards, and those recently established through the BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) programme will be explored, as well as the distinction between resident and seasonal labour forces.