University receives first donation towards new beneficial insect health centre

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

The University of Guelph has received the first donation towards a new Centre for Beneficial Insect Health that it is developing.

Bayer CropScience Inc. has donated $750,000 towards the project. Lori Bona Hunt, the university’s communications and public affairs director, says by email the university approached Bayer for the donation “with the proposed centre flagged as a priority.” She adds Bayer agreed to have its donation used for the centre, which is being set up through the Environmental Sciences School.

The centre is “in the development stages,” she says, adding she wasn’t sure when it would be up and running.

The centre’s work will have an emphasis on sustainable pest management in agriculture, including projects on field and horticultural crops, greenhouse production, insecticide resistance and biological insect control, the university’s May 5 press release says.

The diversity and numbers of insect pollinators are falling globally due to a number of factors, including disease, pesticide exposure, malnutrition, habitat loss and climate change, the release says. In Canada, 28 species of butterflies and moths and two bee species are known to be at risk.

Pollinators are vital to agriculture. Of approximately 300 crops used for food, fodder and fibre worth more than $200 billion a year, about 80 per cent need pollinators to set seeds and fruit, the release says.

Ontario Agricultural College dean Rob Gordon, says in the release the donation will help the university find innovative ways to improve pest management systems while safe guarding pollinators and promoting a productive agricultural industry.

The donation from Bayer compliments an earlier donation of $3 million from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation that helped the university establish a chair in pollinator conservation to be held by Nigel Raine of Britain.

Bona Hunt says Bayer’s donation, made to the university’s BetterPlanet Project, is one of the largest donations to the project. Some of the other large contributions are in the range of $3 to $5 million. The BetterPlanet Project is the university’s fundraising campaign for teaching and research in food, environment, health and communities. BF