AICRP on Honey bees and Pollinators, Department of Entomology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat-785 013, (Assam), India
*Email of the corresponding author: sudhansubhagawati@gmail.com
Online published on 2 February, 2016.
An experiment was conducted during the summer season of 2012 and 2013 to investigate the effect of Apis cerana pollination on some qualitative and quantitative parameters of sesamum at Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India. Sesamum capsules plant−1, seeds capsule−1, 1000-seed weight, per cent of seed set and germination were found to be higher in Apis cerana pollinated treatments over open pollination and pollinator exclusion. Yield of sesamum crop was also found to be higher in Apis cerana pollinated treatments over open pollination and pollinator exclusion. The highest seed yield (835 kg ha−1) was recorded from Apis cerana pollination @ 7 hives per hectare which was at par with Apis cerana pollination @ 5 hives per hectare having 810 kg ha−1. The per cent oil and moisture content of Apis cerana pollinated seeds of sesamum were also found to be significantly higher over open pollination and pollinator exclusion treatments. The highest per cent of oil (54.17%) and moisture (10.18%) content were recorded from Apis cerana pollination @ 7 hives per hectare.
Apis cerana, India, Oil content, Pollination effect, Sesamum
