Editing Open pollination (section)

{{Short description|Pollination by natural agents, or true-breeding in plant varieties}}
{{more footnotes|date=January 2014}}
[[File:TEENAGERS BEGINNING THEIR SUMMER DAY DETASSELING CORN IN FIELDS NEAR NEW ULM, MINNESOTA. THE HYBRID CORN SEED FOR THE... - NARA - 558242.jpg|thumb|right|[[Detasseling]] corn ([[maize]]) plants from one variety in a field where two varieties are planted. The male flowers are removed so that all seeds are hybrids sired from the second variety.]]

"'''Open pollination'''" and "'''open pollinated'''" refer to a variety of concepts in the context of the sexual reproduction of plants. Generally speaking, the term refers to plants pollinated naturally by birds, insects, wind, or human hands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delany |first=Alex |date=2018-07-25 |title=What Are Heirloom Tomatoes, Anyway? |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-are-heirloom-tomatoes |url-status=live |website=[[Bon Appétit]] |access-date=2021-12-04 |archive-date=2021-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030150056/https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-are-heirloom-tomatoes }}</ref>

Controlled pollination is the process of collecting the pollen variety from live flowers during the bloom season and processing them, and re-introducing the pollen back into the orchard via a backpack blower or dusting into the beehives. Increased yields can be accomplished and vary from 15% to 25% depending on application methods, timing, and weather conditions. A large variety of stone fruits are receptive to this process, i.e. almonds, avocados, cherries, olives, plums, etc. Controlled pollination is beneficial in times when bee flight either is hampered by bad weather or the lack of bees to pollinate enough orchards during the blooming season. Some growers do the application via aircraft and/or drones. This citation was added by Steve Urner, owner of Pollen Application Service. Studies are available. WWW.Pollenapplication .com