Polyfly’s hoverflies pollinate melon greenhouses in Ibaraki
Thanks to our collaboration with API, the leading Japanese distributor of pollinators, Polyfly’s hoverflies are taking their first steps in one of the most demanding horticultural markets in the world: Japan. The prestigious Japan Agricultural Newspaper (Nihon Nogyo Shimbun) covered the pilot project in its May 2026 edition, dedicating an extensive feature to the JA Hokota cooperative and its commitment to our hoverflies.
The project at JA Hokota: Japan’s largest melon producer
JA Hokota, in Ibaraki Prefecture, ranks first nationwide in melon shipment volume in Japan, with around 170 producer members, close to 94 hectares under cultivation and annual sales of nearly 2.1 billion yen (around 640,000 boxes of 5 kg). It is in this context of continuous improvement that the hoverfly pollination trial launched for the 2025/2026 season takes place. Like much of the world, Japan is facing a worrying shortage of honeybees that is pushing the sector to look for viable alternatives. The proposal to use hoverflies reached JA Hokota through API (Gifu), our partner in the Japanese market. This year, five producers are running trials on melon and another five on strawberry, extending the application of our hoverflies to two of the country’s most iconic crops.
The advantages of hoverflies, highlighted by the producers themselves
The Nihon Nogyo Shimbun article accurately captures the advantages that set hoverflies apart from honeybees — advantages we have been refining at Polyfly for years: their activity is not affected by weather conditions and, above all, they do not sting, a major benefit for greenhouse workers. Although the absence of a homing instinct means they cannot be managed in hives like bees, hoverflies remain active in the crop as long as flowers are available, providing continuous and safe pollination.
Promising results from Ibaraki
The president of JA Hokota’s melon division, Mr. Nagamine, has expressed his satisfaction with the first results of the trial: “Although we are still in the testing phase, I have the feeling that pollination work is progressing more smoothly than with honeybees.” A testimony that confirms the potential of Polyfly’s hoverflies as a modern, sustainable pollination solution, well suited to today’s challenges of intensive agriculture — whether under the Almería sun or in the greenhouses of Ibaraki (Japan).
Japan Agricultural Newspaper (日本農業新聞).
Report by: Atsunobu Nakamura — 中村敦信