2025-07-18 13:04:43

Avocados could be no more in the future if agricultural productivity does not increase.

Australian scientists warn the fruit – which comes from Mexico and Central America, but is grown all over the world – could be scarce if native vegetation, such as trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses, does not grow alongside the crops.

Researchers from Curtin University in Perth, Australia, discovered that insects in an avocado orchard next to native vegetation searched widely for more than double plant species when crop flowering was limited.

They found that insects with a range of food sources have a better survival rate and will pollinate crops.

The team estimated that up to 10 billion people globally will need access to safe food that is packed with nutrition in the next 25 years.

As a result, agricultural productivity will need to increase by 75 per cent by 2050.

Curtin University’s Doctor Joshua Kestel, who led the study – which is published in the journal Environmental and Sustainability Indicators – said: “We identified the diversity of pollen transported by insect communities collected during sampling.

“This allowed us to demonstrate that vegetation adjacent to orchards may enhance food security.”

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