Self-incompatibility
A plant's inability to set fruit with its own pollen — which is what makes insect pollination economically necessary.
Definition
Apples, sweet cherries and almonds are largely self-incompatible and need pollen from a different variety. This is why orchards are planted with pollination partners, why crab apples are used as universal partners, and why almond growing requires roughly two million honey bee colonies in California each February. Where a crop is self-fertile — as citrus and cotton largely are — bees gain from the grove and the grove gains comparatively little.
Where the word gets used loosely
Pollination dependence varies enormously by crop and is frequently overstated in general claims about bees and the food supply. The IPBES figures are worth reading with their denominators attached.
See also
Other botany terms
Sources
Sources
- Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production — Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (2016) · Systematic review Link
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.