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VOL. 9, ISSUE 10 (2024)
Flower visitors and impact of bee pollination on the fruit set of cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) in the north-eastern of Côte d'Ivoire
Authors
Nicodénin Angele Soro, Dolourou Silué, Lombart Mesmer Maurice Kouakou, Kolo Yéo
Abstract
Cashew is one of major crops of which depend several farmers in Côte
d’Ivoire. Despite, the economic and social importance of this crop, there is
little information on cashew pollination biology in this country. This study
was conducted in the Kapkin area (north-east of Côte d’Ivoire) where three
cashew orchards was investigated. The objectives were (i) to determine cashew
flowers visitors; (iii) to evaluate the activity period of mainly flowers
visitors during the daily and their relative visitation rates; (iii) to assess
the effect of pollination on cashew fruit set through three treatments
(Control, spontaneous natural self-pollination and natural cross-pollination).
Results revealed that percentage of pollinating visits to cashew flowers by
bees was 99.3 %, a higher rate than other insect groups. The most abundant
species were Apis mellifera (66.49 %), Braunsapis sp.2 (11.40 %) and Pachynomia atrinervis (8.56
%). Most of bees foraged with a high visit rate in the late morning and early
afternoon, coinciding with the period of greatest availability of floral
rewards. Large bees visited more flowers per time unit (8.8±0.8 flowers/min)
than medium bees (3.7±0.3 flowers/min) and small bees (3.5±0.2 flowers/min). Apis
mellifera are efficient pollinators of cashew orchard. On average control
treatment (55.76 %) and natural cross pollination (50.10 %) produced more fruit
set than spontaneous natural self-pollination (4.78 %). Thus, cashew orchards
requires cross-pollination for maximum yields.
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Pages:76-84
How to cite this article:
Nicodénin Angele Soro, Dolourou Silué, Lombart Mesmer Maurice Kouakou, Kolo Yéo "Flower visitors and impact of bee pollination on the fruit set of cashew (<i>Anacardium occidentale </i>L.) in the north-eastern of Côte d'Ivoire". International Journal of Entomology Research, Vol 9, Issue 10, 2024, Pages 76-84
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