MORE than $2 million will be invested into promoting the welfare of bees and better genetics, if the coalition government returns.
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The Liberals and Nationals have pledged to raise awareness of the role bees play in agriculture, as well as breeding better bees to pollinate food crops, according to Agriculture Minister David Littleproud.
"Without bees, two thirds of Australian agricultural production would be at risk," he said.
"Bees pollinate our fruit, vegetables and other crops, including those which feed the livestock which supply our meat. We need healthy bees for our food security."
Mr Littleproud said the coalition would invest $1.5m to promote the role of bees in agriculture and the entire food chain.
"This will inform farmers and the community how they can protect bees, reducing risks to their decline and increasing their numbers in Australia," he said.
"Agrifutures Australia will coordinate delivery of the project and work closely with apiarist organisations to make sure it's done well."
He said they would also invest $1.65m to breed honey bees with improved traits for primary producers.
"The funding will contribute to a national genetic improvement program which will have benefits for decades to come," he said.
"This will result in more efficient bees to drive our horticulture and broadacre industries that depend on honey bee pollination.
"This project could create gains of $41 million in honey production alone over 25 years."
Mr Littleproud said the impact of bees extended beyond the honey produced.
"The annual economic value of honey bee pollination in Australia is around $14.2 billion, which is 140 times greater than the $100m annual value of the honey bees produce," he said.
The funding for the breeding program will come from the Rural R and D for profit program. For more information visit: agriculture.gov.au
In 2016, the Liberal and Nationals government invested $5.2m in a Securing Pollination project, to assess the contribution of pollinators to nine crops, re-establish native vegetation to support pollinator food and nesting resources, and use new technologies to communicate the findings to crop farmers.
