Effect of honeybee (Apis mellifera) pollination on seed yield and yield parameters of Guizotia abyssinica (L.f.)

A flower of Guizotia abyssinica (L.F.) opens and liberates pollen early in the morning, the style emerges about midday and the plant is thus basically self-sterile. Hence G. abyssinica is a cross pollinated crop with cross pollination percentage ranging from 0 to 100 percent. Locally, the role of honeybees’ pollination is still poorly understood and till now is not sufficiently appreciated. Hence, this experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of the honeybee pollination on seed yield and yield parameters of G. abyssinica at the farm of Mekelle Agricultural Research Center. The study had three treatments; these were crops caged with honeybee, caged without honeybee and open pollinated. The obtained data related to seed yield and yield parameters were statistically analyzed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The highest seed yield/ha was found in crops caged with honeybees (16.7 quintal) followed by open pollinated crops (13.3 quintal), while crops excluded from insects had the lowest yield (9.6 quintal). So the study discovers that honeybees and other insect pollination had a significant effect on seed yield of G. abyssinica. Therefore, it is recommended to keep sufficient number of honeybee colonies in the vicinity of G. abyssinica fields during its flowering period to increase the pollination efficiency and thereby enhance seed productivity. Key words: Guizotia abyssinica, honeybee, insects, pollination.