Do French beans in Kenya experience pollination deficit?

by Masiga R. et al.

Carpenter bee visiting flowers of French bean

French beans, also known as snap beans, are grown in Kenya for export especially to the European Union (EU) market. Most of the growers are small-scale in operation but invest heavily in crop production to meet the commodity demand for high standard grades that require smooth, straight and uniformly formed green pods. Nevertheless, these farmers have consistently reported achieving less than 50% pods of this high grade, resulting in more use and higher dependency on external inputs (e.g., inorganic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides).  

To address this challenge, we carried out studies to determine whether inadequate pollination was one of the problems that affect French bean production.

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Read the scientific publication in JPE.