Relative Abundance and Foraging Behaviour of Pollinator Fauna on Niger (Guizotia abyssinica Cass.) and its Influence on Yield

Niger (Guizotia abyssinica Cass.) is one of the important oilseed crop of Southern and Central India. Niger is a completely cross pollinated crop brought about by insects, referring to the importance of pollination, the study was undertaken to know the role of pollinators in Niger ecosystem and its influence on yield parameters. The present investigation was carried out during 2016-2017 at the Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra (GKVK), University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. In this study, fourteen species of flower visitors were observed during the flowering period belonged to orders Hymenoptera (9 species), Lepidoptera (4 species) and Diptera (1 species). The overall diversity of pollinators was more during morning hours (8.00 AM to 11.00 AM) and gradually decreased after 12.00 PM to 5.00 PM. Among different pollinator species Apis florea was more abundant with 41.46% followed by Apis dorsata and Apis cerana. The peak activity of A. florea was observed at 11.00 AM followed by A. cerana at 10.00-11.00 AM and A. dorsata was at 11.00 AM. The highest number of probing was observed in A. florea (7.52) followed by A cerena and A. dorsata. The time (sec) taken for one probing was highest in A. florea followed by A cerena and A. dorsata. The number of filled seeds observed 37.66% less in caged condition when compare with open pollination and there was significant decrease in the yield in caged condition when compare with open pollination indicating importance of pollinators specifically honey bees for successful production of Niger.