Abstract:
The studies were conducted in Maroua-Cameroon to assess the impact of Megachile
bituberculata visit on the production of Cajanus cajan. Two treatments were used on each 50
randomly-selected plants. These included Autonomous Self-Pollination (ASP) with flowers from
which insects visit, with airborne pollen flow excluded (treatments 1), flowers that received a
single bee visit (SBV) of M. bituberculata (treatments 2). This bee mainly foraged for nectar and
pollen resources. The mean foraging speed was 11.59 flowers/min (n = 39; s = 1.95) and the
duration of visits was 10.65 s (n = 32; s = 4.07) to collect pollen and nectar. Megachile
bituberculata is an effective pollinator, it shakes flowers and this movement could facilitate the
liberation of pollen by anthers, for the optimal occupation of the stigma and of course their visits
increase fruiting rate of 87.18 %, percentage of seeds/pod of 16.4 %, percentage of normal seed
of 5.58 % and percentage of weight seed of 19.35 % in Maroua. Conservation of M.
bituberculata nests close to pigeonpea farms can be recommended to increase pod and seed
production in the region |
