Why plant flowers for pollinators? Exploring what motivates fruit growers to take up a key pro‐pollinator behaviour

Abstract Agricultural expansion and intensification are the main drivers of pollinator decline. To reverse the negative effects of agriculture on pollinators, it is important to involve key agricultural stakeholders in designing and implementing pro‐pollinator conservation actions. Although farmers are recognized as key stakeholders in pollinator conservation, psychological research about what determines their pro‐pollinator actions is lacking. We interviewed 89 farmers of pollinator‐dependent fruit crops across the United Kingdom, with the majority of interviews carried out in person. A combination of closed and open questions was used to analyse farmer perceptions of the importance of pollinators, and the crop yield and quality outcomes they deliver. We used Likert‐scale statements to measure psychological factors based on the theory of planned behaviour, and tested the determinants of the intention to plant flowers as nectar and pollen sources for pollinating insects with multiple linear regression. We found that fruit farmers who perceived a high importance of pollinators also perceived high dependence. Compared to values of crop pollinator dependence reported in the literature, farmers' perceptions of their crop's pollinator dependence were the same or lower for apple farmers, and the same or greater, for blackcurrant farmers. Fruit farmers in our sample were motivated to plant flowers for pollinating insects more by what they believed to be the benefits of doing so, and their ability to do so, than by their beliefs about social approval, for example from other farmers or customers. In accordance with this result, attitudes and perceived behavioural control were the major determinants of apple and blackcurrant farmers' intentions to perform the behaviour. Given the importance of perceived behavioural control, we recommend outreach activities that provide training, guidance and field demonstration on the practicalities of planting flowers for pollinators in fruit farms. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.