British Sugar has announced a two-year pilot project with agri-tech company AgriSounda to record real-time biodiversity data.
The collaboration will see the installation of 27 acoustic sensors at a large farming estate in North Norfolk. The sensors will provide critical insights into the health of vital pollinator populations.
AgriSound’s Polly technology uses acoustic sensors to detect and analyse bee and other insect activity in real-time. This scalable and automated approach will provide unprecedented real-time data on pollinator health to the estate owner Ali Cargill, British Sugar and other stakeholders involved in the collaboration.
The information gathered will enable accurate and value-added insight into pollinator activity where sugar beet is part of the crop rotation. Alongside, demonstrating whether wildflower borders, hedgerows and nearby water sources have any impact on pollinators over a longer period of time. This detailed and accurate information will unveil opportunities for sustainable land and pest management activities across the beet growing area which spans across the East of England, the East Midlands and Yorkshire.
Charlie Curtis, Agricultural Sustainability Manager at British Sugar says the project presents a significant leap forward in the ambition to enhance biodiversity across agricultural operations. “We have been looking to adapt our practices to become more sustainable and supportive of biodiversity in the UK and partnering with AgriSound seemed like a natural choice for us.
“By better understanding pollinator activity, we can make more informed decisions about land use, pesticide management, and where to create nature-friendly habitats. This will help us to maintain our eco-friendly practices well into the future.”
Ali Cargill, grower and committee member of the Rural Economy Research Group adds: “ What we’re trying to achieve is to find out what sort of speciation of bees we have on farm, as well as how they are interacting with the crops and the wildflower margins that we have. Enabling us to see a baseline which we can then improve and build upon year on year.
