Pollinators Diversity And Performance Of Apis Cerana Indica Fab In Sunflower Helianthus annuus L Ecosystem In Gajapati District Of Odisha

Abstract

Field experiments on Pollinators diversity and performance of Apis cerana indica Fab. newlinein Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) ecosystem in Gajapati district of Odisha was newlinecarried out at MSSSoA, CUTM, Paralakhemundi, Gajapati during 2021-23. The results newlinerevealed that in the Goshani block Sunflower, Sesamum, Red gram, Cowpea, and newlinePumpkin flowers were visited by 15, 6, 7, 4 and 11 different insects pollinators newlinerespectively, the common on most of the crops being the Apis dorsata, newlineApis cerana indica, Tetragonula iridipennis and Xylocopa sp. The A. mellifera was newlinerecorded on Sunflower in Gumma block of the district where it is domesticated. newlineAltogether 26 numbers of diverse pollinators closely associated with five different crops newlinewere recorded in Gajapati district. Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera were the most newlinedominant order on Sunflower in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Foraging activity of newlineApidae was observed to be more on all crops except in Red gram (Megachilidae). newlineA. c. indica was the chief forager of Sunflower and Sesamum with more than 30 per newlinecent share whereas Megachile lanata was the dominant pollinator on Red gram newlinecontributing 34.33 per cent share. Dominance status showed that, among the pollinators, newlinenone was super dominant but A. c. indica in mid and late flowering stages; A. dorsata in newlineearly and mid flowering stages of Sunflower and M. lanata in early and mid flowering newlinestages of Red gram only exhibited eudominant status. As per the Simpson s index of newlinediversity and Shannon index the habitat diversity of pollinator was relatively higher newlineduring rabi Sunflower followed by summer Sunflower and the lowest on Red gram. The newlinemaximum similarities analyzed through Sorenson s coefficient was observed in between newlineSesamum and Red gram (CCC5: 0.77). A notable overall increase of 10.90, 17.66 and newline33.49 per cent in open pollination and 3.54, 13.37 and 22.43 per cent in bee pollinations newlinetreatments over pollination exclusion treatments were observed in yield attributing newlinecharacters like number of seeds per capitalism, 1000 seed weight and