COMPARISON OF POLLINATOR DIVERSITY IN CAPSICUM (Capsicum annuum L.) AND SUNN HEMP (Crotalaria juncea L.) AND IMPACT OF DIFFERENT MODES OF POLLINATION ON FRUIT YIELD PARAMETERS OF CAPSICUM
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Date
2021-11-19
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The study was carried at the Departments of Apiculture and Horticulture, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru during 2020-21. Flower initiation in capsicum (var. Nemalite) commenced at 15.50±0.94 days after bud development. Peak anthesis and anther dehiscence started at around 09:00 hrs. and 11:00 hrs respectively. Pollen was viable for three days. Stigma was receptive for four days. Comparison of pollinator diversity revealed that sunn hemp and capsicum flowers were visited by totally 18 and 6 species of floral visitors, belonging to orders Hymenoptera, Lepidopteran, Dipteran and Thysanoptera, respectively. In sunn hemp and capsicum peak abundance of floral visitors were observed from 09:00 to 13:00 hrs and 10:00 to 11:00 hrs, respectively. Shannon-Wiener diversity index in sunn hemp and capsicum ranged between 0.936 to 2.244 and 0.00 to 1.099, respectively. Berger-Parker dominance index was highest for Megachile spp. (d = 0.207) in sunn hemp and Ischiodon scutellaris (d=0.45) in capsicum. Ischiodon scutellaris and Apis cerana were the common floral visitors for both capsicum and sunn hemp. The time spent for foraging and the number of flowers visited per minute by floral visitors were relatively lesser on capsicum than in sunnhemp. Sunn hemp had comparatively higher pollen quantity and higher TSS content in its nectar, thus attracting greater number of floral visitors than capsicum. Significantly higher fruit yield and qualitative parameters were recorded in the capsicum fruits obtained from hand cross pollinated flowers, followed by capsicum plants enclosed with A. cerana colony, as compared to other modes of pollination.
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