Pollination as an ecosystem service in soybean production for climate change mitigation

Abstract

The objective of this review was to present the benefits of Apis mellifera pollination on soybean yield, emphasizing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Several authors have shown that soybean yield is increased by pollination, explaining why supplementary pollination has been adopted by those interested in the integration of soybean and bees. Ecosystem services, biocapacity, and ecological footprints were the concepts used to establish the interrelationships between this integration and crop yield increment using supplementary pollination, highlighting that this technology does not modify the production system. Such analysis supports the logic to calculate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per megagram of soybean harvested, aiming to mitigate climate change. The Google Scholar database was used to select the scientific papers used for this review. Results indicate that, to obtain the same soybean production, the required area would be reduced in the same proportion of yield increment, with an additional emission reduction of 0.047 Mg CO₂ equivalent per megagram of harvested soybean. Actions and policies to maximize the adoption of supplementary pollination are proposed, aiming to mitigate climate change, improving the natural ecosystem service of pollination, while incrementing the net income of growers and the production by beekeepers.