Role of ways of insect visitors foraging for pollination in yield contributing traits of mustard

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the research farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207 during the period from November 2016 to February 2017. The experiment has consisted of three different ways of insect visitors foraging for pollination of mustard flowers viz., T1= Open field (Control), i.e., the mustard field was fully open for free movement by the insect pollinators, T2= Netting with honey bee, i.e., the mustard plots was caged with muslin net and the bee hive was placed inside the cage and T3= Netting without honey bee, i.e., the mustard plots was caged with muslin net but the bee hive was not placed inside the cage. BARI Sharisha-8 [Brassica juncea (L.) Czernajew] was used as planting material. Randomized Complete Block Design was selected to lay out the present experiment with 7 replicates. Study showed that, honey bee was the most abundant hymenopterans in the mustard field as a pollinator. The yield and yield contributing traits were significantly influenced by different ways of insect visitors foraging for pollination. The maximum (3.50 g) 1000-seed weight was recorded from treatment T2 followed by T3 and the lowest 1000- seed weight (2.68 g) was recorded from T3. The highest seed yield (2.45 t ha-1) was exhibited from treatment T2 followed by T1 whereas the lowest seed yield (1.67 t ha-1) was recorded from T3. Finally, it can be concluded that, providing honey bee colonies to the flowering mustard field can substantially contribute to the yield.