idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Many associate Tequila with lime wedges, salt, and parties. But the popular drink also has a negative impact on biodiversity, both on the blue agave from which it is made and, perhaps more unexpectedly, on bats. Both are threatened by one-sided cultivation. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, together with colleagues in Mexico and the USA, have studied which measures can have a positive effect on biological diversity.
The increasing global popularity of tequila has driven increasingly intensive cultivation of blue agave. Most producers work with an asexual reproduction technique that prevents the plants from flowering. When flowering, the sugar goes to the nectar in the flowers and the plant is no longer useful for tequila production. This technique damages the agave’s genetic diversity and puts the crop at long-term risk. It becomes less resistant to, for example, pests and climate change. In addition, intensive cultivation methods have removed an important source of nutrition from bats that pollinate the flowers and feed on the nectar from the agave.
Voluntary programs, such as the “bat-friendly program,” allow tequila producers to label their bottles with a hologram if they allow sexual reproduction. Then the price will be slightly higher, which can be justified with the environmental label. However, since many farmers only grow agave for sale to distilleries and do not produce tequila themselves, these hologram initiatives are not enough, farmers must also have incentives for sustainable cultivation.
In a new study, a survey method was used to find out what it takes for agave farmers to want to use methods that allow some natural agave flowering and seed production.
On average, farmers said they could consider allowing 93 plants (out of about 3,000) per hectare to flower for unspecified future yield increases, 129 plants for a subsidy of 20% relative to the investment cost, and 180 plants if the subsidy was 50% of the investment cost. According to the bat-friendly program, 150 plants per hectare are enough to secure biodiversity and food for the bats.
With sufficient financial incentives and educational resources, many farmers seem willing to invest a portion of their harvests to benefit bats while increasing agave genetic biodiversity and future viability. The researchers also note that collaboration between industry, consumers, decision-makers, and nature conservation groups is required. The research findings suggest that environmental benefits and appropriate financial incentives could make “bat-friendly” tequila a sustainable option at the party.
Alejandro Lopez-Feldman, Environment for Development, Gothenburg University, alejandro.lopez.feldman@efd.gu.se, +46-766-229248.
Tequila, bats, and agave farmers: towards an understanding of the right incentives to protect genetic diversity by Alejandro Lopez-Feldman, Environment for Development, School of Economics, Gothenburg University, Irene Zapata-Moran, University of Wyoming, and Hernan Bejarano, Cide University, Mexico City
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/ad19f4
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists
Environment / ecology, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
transregional, national
Research results
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
