Story of the untiring and unpaid pollinators who contribute in a third of the food we eat
It was an amazing evening of the floral exhibition in Nairangabad Public Park. The park was blooming with beautiful shrubs and plants along the walkways and in every nook and corner. Nicely arranged stalls were decorated with fresh flowers of various varieties. One of the stalls was entirely dedicated to fresh fruits and the display was superb. It was an evening full of colours and life. Surprisingly, when this morning Grandpa suggested coming here, I felt bored. But as soon as I got here, my opinion had changed. When we had enough of walking around in various exhibition areas, we decided to settle in a nice restaurant. While we were eagerly waiting for our order of Samosa, Aloo chat and orange juice, Grandpa said. Mamdu Mian Flowers are wonderful embellishments, but they are very useful to us humans and the world. What you see on them, the bees, creeping insects and flying butterflies are getting their food from the sweet flower juice nectar. At the same time, they take the pollen from the male part called stamen from the inside of the flower and pass it on to the female part called the pistil. Seeds and seeded fruits are produced when pollens are combined with the female component after reaching the right place. Licking hot peppers with a big sip of juice, Uncle said. Pollen’s delivery is financially equal to the many billion dollars that these bees perform free of charge. Because bees only in one hive do this work for three hundred million flowers in a day. In simple words, twenty-five per cent of the human diet is produced by these unpaid workers. Apples, oranges, falsa, tomatoes, walnuts and many other nutrients. Even coffee and cotton crops are dependent on these workers. Yani Apa took a deep breath to enjoy the fragrance of the fresh flowery bangles in her wrists and said. For the proliferation and sustainability of trees and jungles, the seeds need to be scattered to far and remote areas where there is a fertile land, ample supply of water and adequate sunshine. They devise interesting methods for their journey. Some seeds are so light or surrounded by thin fibres that the wind blows them away. Some, like maple seeds, have wings to fly naturally. Few fly to faraway destinations in the intestine of the birds who have eaten them or walk miles with land animals. Some travel far and wide, wrapped in animal fur and hair. The journey of coconut is so amazing. It swims hundreds of miles across the oceans and reaches remote islands ….. To be continued