Fauna of Insect Pollinators of Cucurbits and their effects on yield at District Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

The research work was conducted in open field at Tarnab farm, Regi and Mathra during active season from May till October, 2023.Three summer vegetables Bottle Gourd (Lageraria Seceraria), Ridge Gourd (Luffa acutungulara.) and Sponge Gourd (Luffa aegyptiaca) were cultivated in the present study to collect and identify pollinators and to find its impact on cucurbits yield. In the current study 11 species Amigela cingulata, Anthophora confuse, Apis cerana, A. dorsata, A. mellifera, Xylocopa pubescene, X. fenestrate, Delta dimidiatipenne, Eristalis tenax and Papilio demoleus of 5 genera were recorded. The experiment was designed in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and structured with six treatments replicated three times. Experimental plot size was kept 6m2 with rows kept apart at 30cm while plant to plant distances were kept 15cm observed. Results showed that different varieties of vegetables along with covered and open flower were significantly affected weight and length of vegetables. Higher weight of vegetable was recorded from ridge gourd with uncovered flower while lower weight of vegetable was observed from the plots of bottle gourd with covered flowers. Maximum length of vegetable was noted from ridge gourd with uncovered flower while minimum length of vegetable was observed from the plots of bottle gourd with covered flowers. From the results it is cleared that yield of vegetables increases if pollination is allowed in the plant. As the pollinators fauna of the cucurbits is very diverse therefore it is recommended to further study the pollinators fauna on cucurbits to record the full diversity of pollinators.