Field margins, floral plantings, and crops offering nectar and pollen to insects may contribute to ecosystem service delivery (pollination) and ecological intensification of agriculture. The application of machine learning on data collected using low-cost RGB cameras represents a new opportunity to investigate, evaluate, and optimize the attractiveness of such cropping systems to beneficial insects.

A balanced diet is important for reducing hunger and malnutrition. Researchers thus advocate that small farmers in low- and middle-income countries should try to produce as many different foods as possible for their own consumption. However, a new study is now questioning this recommendation to some extent. It suggests that good access to regional markets is more important than farmers growing a large diversity of crops on their own smallholding. Better-functioning markets increase the variety of foods available locally, which benefits the population as a whole. The results are being published in the journal “Nature Food.”