Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Monday proclaimed this week as National Pollinator Week.
Vilsack states of the proclamation, “The health of these agricultural contributors is critical to the vitality and sustainability of U.S. agriculture, food security, and our nation’s overall economy.”
Pollinator species play an important role in producing more than 100 crops grown in the United States.
The proclamation states a variety of practices to protect pollinators can often be incorporated in USDA’s focus on climate-smart agricultural solutions, such as growing pollinator-attractive flowering trees and plants that also sequester carbon.
Honeybee pollination alone adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually and are critical to ensuring our diets are plentiful with fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
USDA recognizes the role pollinators play in agriculture and supports pollinator health through research, data collections, diagnostic services, monitoring, pollinator habitat enhancement programs, and pollinator health grants.
