In search of the best pollinators for canola (Brassica napus L.) production in Pakistan

Abstract

To discover the pollinator community of canola (Brassica napus L.) and the best pollinators for canola production, an experiment was performed at the research farm of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan. The insect pollinator community was composed of 35 species in 3 orders and 14 families. Most of the bees (Hymenoptera) and a butterfly species (Lepidoptera) foraged for nectar, whereas all the flies (Diptera) foraged either for pollen or both nectar and pollen. Eight major pollinators were tested for their pollination efficiency. The nectar-robbing behavior of many species made it difficult to judge the efficiency of an insect on the basis of visitation rate and stay time; therefore, the amounts of pollen deposited and pollen harvested per visit were also measured. The single visit efficiency in terms of the number of seeds per pod revealed that Apis dorsata, A. florea, and Halictus sp. were superior for canola pollination, having Spears' values of 1.62, 1.55 and 1.73, respectively. With the increase in the number of seeds per pod, seed weight per pod also increased, confirming the importance of these three pollinator species in canola production.

Diversity of insect pollinators with reference to their impact on yield production of canola (Brassica napus L.) in Ismailia, Egypt

“…Two species of bees Colletes lacunatus and Apis mellifera were found to dominate in the two seasons. B. napus is generally visited by a variety of pollinating insects worldwide, including honeybees, solitary bees and hoverflies (Ali et al, 2011;Arthur et al, 2010), as well as Andrena spp., Osmia spp., and Lasioglossum spp. (Woodcock et al, 2013).…”

Comparative study of the floral biology and of the response of productivity to insect visitation in two rapeseed cultivars (Brassica napus L.) in Rio Grande do Sul

“…One hypothesis to explain this difference is that the amount of flower visitation is lower at Estrela than at Guarani das Missões, being insufficient to increase productivity and the quality of seeds to a level above the autogamy treatment, given that the pollinator density affects fruit production (Jauker et al, 2012). Another possible cause for this difference may be the composition of the pollinator community of each area, because the efficiency of pollinators varies with species (Ali et al, 2011).…”

“…Rapeseed (Brassica napus L., Brassicaceae) is an agricultural crop that benefits from animal pollination (Kevan and Eisikowitch, 1990;Adegas and Nogueira Couto, 1992;Durán et al, 2010;Rosa et al, 2010Rosa et al, , 2011Ali et al, 2011;Bommarco et al, 2012). It is the third most highly produced oleaginous plant worldwide (Tomm, 2005).…”

“…However, several studies have shown that insect pollination of these flowers increases the amounts of seeds produced (Kevan and Eisikowitch, 1990;Rosa et al, 2010;Ali et al, 2011), seed weight and quality (amount of oil) (Durán et al, 2010;Bommarco et al, 2012) and even the seed germination rate (Kevan and Eisikowitch, 1990), resulting in higher market values (Bommarco et al, 2012).…”

Yearlong association of Apis dorsata and Apis florea with flowering plants: planted forest vs. agricultural landscape

“…canola; Brassica napus (Ali et al, 2011), onion; Allium cepa Sajjad et al, 2008), fodder; Sesbania sesban (Sajjad et al 2009), fodder alfalfa; Medicago sativa (Ahmad 1976) and Bitter gourd; Momordica charantia (Saeed et al, 2012). Using bioeconomical methods Irshad and Stephen (2013) quantified economic value of pollination in Pakistan.…”