 | 500Foods shared this story from  Agronomy. |
Agronomy, Vol. 11, Pages 167: Theoretical Foundation of the Control of Pollination by Hoverflies in a Greenhouse
Agronomy doi: 10.3390/agronomy11010167
Authors: Francisco J. Fernández József Garay Tamás F. Móri Villő Csiszár Zoltán Varga Inmaculada López Manuel Gámez Tomás Cabello
We propose a conceptual model for pollination and fertilization of tomato flowers in greenhouses crops by hoverflies, when the maximal number of adult pollinators maintained by the crops is less than what is needed for an economically successful pollination in greenhouses. The model consists of a two-stage process for additional feeding of hoverfly to maintain the pollinator density at the economically desired level. First, with a stochastic model, we calculate the density of flies necessary for the economically successful pollination, determined according to the economically expected yield. Second, using a deterministic optimal control model, we find a minimum cost supplementary feeding strategy. In summary, we theoretically demonstrate, at the present stage of the research without validations in case studies, that optimal supplementary feeding can maintain the economically desired hoverfly density.