The new Horizon Europe project, AGRI4POL, aims to assist the transition of agriculture from being a pressure on pollinators to becoming a positive force for biodiversity, crop pollination services, ecosystems and people.
Threats to pollinators and the pollination services that support agriculture and benefit people are a worldwide problem, recognized by intergovernmental scientific assessments, national or transnational initiatives as well as policies. Intensive agriculture is among the principal threats to pollinator biodiversity and the crop pollination services that pollinators provide. Moreover, typically crop breeding has tended to overlook the benefits of pollination for sustained crop yields in favour of other crop traits. Therefore, there is an urgent need to transform agriculture in a way that supports crop yields and food security while preventing harm to the natural systems that agriculture itself ultimately depends on.
The AGRI4POL project (Promoting sustainable agriculture for pollinators) – which began in January 2025 and will run for four years – takes an ambitious yet achievable interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to drive a transition towards sustainable, pollinator-friendly farming. The project aims to deliver an integrated state-of-the-art analysis of the crop - farming system - pollinator interplay across levels of biological organisation, from the crop gene to the agroecosystem.
The project has seven objectives:
- Work with a multi-actor community on research and solutions for promoting pollinator-friendly farming,
- Evaluate crop genetics, varieties and floral traits governing pollinator attraction, to stimulate breeding of future pollinator-smart crops,
- Establish the benefits of pollinator-friendly farming systems for farmers and farming,
- Optimise ecological and landscape features for crop pollination, pollinator biodiversity and multiple ecosystem benefits,
- Assess the social and economic opportunities and obstacles presented by pollinator friendly farming options,
- Evaluate how policies and practitioner awareness influence uptake of pollinator-friendly farming from national to international scales,
- Communicate and promote the benefits of pollinator-friendly farming.
Coordinated by the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (
INRAE), the AGRI4POL consortium comprises 20 partners from across Europe plus three institutions from China.
The consortium’s expertise comprises multiple scientific disciplines, spanning ecology, agriculture, economics and social sciences, as well as skills in science-society engagement and communications.
Dr. Adam Vanbergen, the project coordinator says: “We are tremendously excited and looking forward to carrying out top-quality research and innovation to both reduce the pressures on pollinators from farming and showcase how pollinators benefit farming and society more widely. We have an ambitious program ahead but with such an excellent team I am confident of success”.
For more project news, follow the project on Bluesky, LinkedIn and stay informed as we prepare to launch the AGRI4POL website.