A new study by the researchers from Latin America and the United States finds birds and bees can boost coffee production

Pollinators are an important component in most agriculture, but new research reports that this duo plays an essential role in coffee bean production that can benefit many coffee growers. A groundbreaking new study found that the combined positive effects of birds and bees on fruit set and fruit uniformity, key factors in quality and price - were greater than their individual effects, the study shows. Without birds and bees, the average yield dropped by almost 25%, valued at about US$1,066 per hectare (approximately R$5,006.04) per hectare of coffee. This is important for the $26 billion coffee industry — including coffee growers, roasters, baristas, cooperatives, and other corporations that rely on nature's unpaid labor for their morning hustle — but the research has even broader implications. For the experiment, researchers from Latin America and the United States manipulated coffee plants in 30 farms, they tested four main scenarios: bird activity alone (pest control), bee ...