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Tesco and WWF have teamed up with start-up tech innovator AgriSound to roll out its new insect-monitoring device across several English apple orchards. The insect tracking technology is set to enable UK fruit growers access to insights into the activity of bees and other pollinating insects. AgriSound’s insect monitor – named ‘Polly’ – aims to support farmers in identifying threats, boosting yields and quantifying benefits to nature from on-farm environmental action. Funded through the WWF Tesco ‘Innovation Connections Programme’, 50 of the ‘Polly’ AI listening devices have been deployed across three different sites in Kent, UK. The devices are designed to capture and analyse the sound of a range of common pollinating insects, with the aim to measure the biodiversity benefits of wildflower margins across the three large, commercial apple orchards, and their impact on pollination. By identifying areas of low pollinator activity in real-time, AgriSound anticipates that the devices will support farmers in boosting biodiversity at key sites, driving pollinator numbers and yields. Data from the devices will also enable farmers to measure the change in pollinator numbers over time, helping to evaluate the benefits of farm-level interventions to boost pollinator numbers, enhancing biodiversity and reducing the need for artificial fertilisers or pesticides. David Edwards, director of food strategy at WWF, said: “The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, and currently food production is driving it’s decline. From insects and birds to bees and mammals, UK nature is in freefall – and this is undermining the resilience of our whole food system." He continued: “New technology like has the potential to support farmers to bring our landscapes back to life, helping to showcase measurable biodiversity benefits delivered through specific on-farm interventions, at the same time as boosting productivity." Founder and CEO of AgriSound, Casey Woodward, said: “At a time when biodiversity, including pollinating bee populations, is declining rapidly and the cost of food production is soaring, our project, funded by Tesco and the WWF could help revolutionise the efficiency of commercial pollination, allowing modern farming techniques to enhance vital biodiversity, rather than negatively impact it, as has sometimes been the case historically”. As part of the WWF Tesco ‘Innovation Connections Programme’, AgriSound is working in partnership with AM Fresh, one of Tesco’s key fresh fruit suppliers, which sources fruit from a number of farms across Kent and the South East of England.