The effect of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) on the size and weight of mangos (Mangifera indica L.).

Shafqat Saeed,Waqar Jaleel,Muhammad Nadir Naqqash,Fozia Ghouri,Qamar Saeed

doi:10.7717/peerj.2076

Abstract

Background: Pollination has a great effect on the yield of fruit trees. Blow flies are considered as an effective pollinator compared to hand pollination in fruit orchards. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of different pollination methods in mango orchards.Methodology: The impact of pollination on quantity and quality of mango yield by blow flies was estimated by using three treatments, i.e., open pollinated trees, trees were covered by a net in the presence of blow flies for pollination, and trees were covered with a net but without insects.Results: The maximum number of flowers was recorded in irregular types of inflorescence, i.e., 434.80 flowers/inflorescence. Fruit setting (bud) was higher in open pollinated mango trees (i.e. 37.00/inflorescence) than enclosed pollination by blow flies (i.e. 22.34/inflorescence). The size of the mango fruit was the highest (5.06 mm) in open pollinated tree than those pollinated by blow flies (3.93 mm) and followed by without any pollinator (3.18 mm) at marble stage. We found that the maximum weight of mango fruit (201.19 g) was in open pollinated trees.Discussion: The results demonstrated that blow flies can be used as effective mango pollinators along with other flies and bees. The blow flies have shown a positive impact on the quality and quantity of mango. This study will be helpful in future and also applicable at farm level to use blow flies as pollinators that are cheap and easy to rear.

Highlights

The mango, Mangifera indica L., is very popular and economically important fruit
The results revealed that fruit setting was better in open trees than blow flies and without pollinated trees, respectively
We detected fruits with maximum weight and size in the open pollinated mango trees where a greater number of pollinators visit the trees for pollination and resulted in the better quality and quantity of mango fruit

Summary

Introduction

The mango, Mangifera indica L., is very popular and economically important fruit. It is widely cultivated in the tropical and subtropical areas of the world (Tjiptono et al, 1984). How to cite this article Saeed et al (2016), The effect of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) on the size and weight of mangos (Mangifera indica L.). Blow flies are considered as an effective pollinator compared to hand pollination in fruit orchards. Methodology: The impact of pollination on quantity and quality of mango yield by blow flies was estimated by using three treatments, i.e., open pollinated trees, trees were covered by a net in the presence of blow flies for pollination, and trees were covered with a net but without insects. Fruit setting (bud) was higher in open pollinated mango trees (i.e. 37.00/inflorescence) than enclosed pollination by blow flies (i.e. 22.34/inflorescence). The size of the mango fruit was the highest (5.06 mm) in open pollinated tree than those pollinated by blow flies (3.93 mm) and followed by without any pollinator (3.18 mm) at marble stage. This study will be helpful in future and applicable at farm level to use blow flies as pollinators that are cheap and easy to rear

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion