Honey bee contribution to canola pollination in Southern Brazil

Scientia Agricola

Annelise De Souza Rosa²  Betina Blochtein¹  Diego Kweco Lima¹ 

[1] ,Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do SulPorto Alegre RS ,Brasil

关键词: flower-visiting insects;    blooming;    canola productivity;    insetos visitantes florais;    floração;    produtividade agrícola;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0103-90162011000200018

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Although canola, (Brassica napus L.), is considered a self-pollinating crop, researchers have indicated that crop productivity increases as a result of honey bee Apis mellifera L. pollination. Given this crop's growing importance in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, this work evaluated the increase in pod and seed productivity with respect to interactions with anthophilous insects and manual pollination tests. The visiting frequency of A. mellifera was correlated with the crop's blooming progression, and productivity comparisons were made between plants visited by insects, manually pollinated plants (geitonogamy and xenogamy) and plants without pollination induction. Pod set and seed production per plant were determined for each treatment. Among the 8,624 recorded flower-visiting insects, Hymenoptera representatives were the most prevalent (92.3%), among which 99.8% were A. mellifera. The correlation between these bees and blooming progression was positive (r = 0.87; p = 0.002). Pollination induction increased seed productivity from 28.4% (autogamy) to 50.4% with insect visitations, as well as to 48.7 (geitonogamy) and to 55.1% (xenogamy) through manual pollination.

【 授权许可】

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