ROLE OF HONEYBEE AS A POLLINATOR IN CONTRIBUTING YIELD OF MUSTARD

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the research farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207 during the period from November, 2016 to February, 2017. The experiment was consisted of three (3) different strategies of pollination of mustard flowers viz., T1= Open field (Control), T2= Netting with honey bee and T3= Netting without honey bee. BARI sharisha-8 (Brassica Juncea L.) was used as planting material. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was selected to lay out the present experiment with 7 replications. Result demonstrated that honey bee was the most abundant hymenopterans in the mustard field as a pollinator. The growth, yield and yield contributing traits were significantly influenced by different strategies of pollination by honey bee. The maximum (3.50 g) 1000-seed weight was recorded from treatment T2 followed by T1 (3.10 g) and the lowest 1000-seed weight (2.68 g) was recorded from T3. The highest seed yield (2.45 t ha-1) was exhibited from treatment T2 followed by T1 (2.30 t ha-1) whereas the lowest seed yield (1.67 t ha-1) was recorded from T3. Finally; it can be concluded that, netting with honey bee was the best one for maximum pollination for obtaining better yield of mustard.