Insect Pollinators of Brassica campestris in Kumaun, West Himalaya: Influence of Crop Composition, Altitude and Flowering Phenology
2016
Kapkoti, Bhawana | Rawal, Ranbeer S. | Joshi, Ravindra K.
Brassica campestris, an important pollinator dependent oilseed crop of tropical and temperate regions, is often grown in a mixed cropping system in Himalayan hills. This system of multiple crops is considered pollinator friendly on account of diversity of crop species as well as support to the natural habitats. However, the level of such contribution is not well understood. In view of this gap, effects of flowering phenology on pollinator visitation were recorded in diverse cropping systems of B. campestris across an altitude range of 1300–2000 m.a.s.l. Datasets on plant density, number of inflorescence/plant, number of open flowers/plant and pollinator density were recorded. Results indicated that the resource abundance (density of plants and flowers) of mustard significantly favoured the visitation of pollinators. Thus, for optimized pollination, densely grown mustard is recommended in the traditional system.
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