Time of flower opening | From 6.20 h to 17.45 h (Throughout the day) |
Anthesis | Early morning hours from 6.25 to 7.25 h |
Anther dehisces | Observed from 7.45 h to 16.45 h |
Stigma receptivity | High between 9.15 h to 15.15 h (Examined through Hydrogen peroxide method proposed by Zeisler (1933)) |
Number of flowers per umbel | Ranged between 682 to 1211 (842±132.51 average of 25 umbels) |
Number of umbels per plant | Ranged between 4 to 13 (7.32±2.29 average of 25 plants) |
Number of umbels per m2 | Ranged between 19–65 (36.66±11.43 average of 12 plots) |
Days for umbel formation | Ranged between 131–144 days (137.44±3.79 days |
Days for first flowering | Ranged between 143–155 days (149.96±6.54 days |
Days for last flowering | Ranged between 203–216 days (209.92±3.96 days |
Total flowering period of crop | Ranged between 60–73 days (67.76±3.83 days |
Total flowering period of each umbel | Ranged between 13–19 days (15.92±1.98 days average of 25 umbels) |
Bee foragers | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value |
No. of flowers visited by pollen foragers | 24.52±1.91 a | 23.52±1.44 b | 19.71±1.63 c | 1.79 |
0.018 | 31.86±2.72 a | 29.86±1.79 a | 30.57±2.92 a | 0.41 | 0.863 | 27.48±6.49 b | 28.95±5.53a | 25.71±5.82 c | 0.14 | 0.0098 |
No. of flowers visited by nectar foragers | 23.42±2.13 b | 26.41±1.57 a | 23.54±1.95 b | 0.64 |
0.0069 | 16.33±1.98 b | 17.69±2.01 b | 19.11±1.38 a | 1.65 |
0.021 | 26.14±1.63 ab | 27.18±1.25a | 24.69±1.87 c | 0.36 |
0.0089 |
No. of umbels visited by pollen foragers | 4.95±1.28a | 4.19±0.94c | 4.57±1.10b | 3.68 |
0.0261 | 3.24±0.74a | 3.60±1.01a | 3.45±1.03a | 1.31 |
0.32 | 4.14±0.79b | 4.71±1.31a | 4.19±1.03b | 5.06 |
0.0083 |
No. of visited by nectar foragers | 3.98±1.01b | 3.87±0.69c | 4.23±0.98a | 0.42 |
0.0085 | 2.13±0.47c | 3.01±0.57a | 2.94±0.73b | 0.67 |
0.0099 | 4.23±1.03b | 3.99±1.07c | 4.57±0.87a | 0.89 | 0.0053 |
Bee foragers | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value |
Pollen foragers | 1.76±0.26 a | 1.82±0.51 a | 1.80±0.36a | 1.91 |
0.16 | 1.47±0.28a | 1.34±0.31b | 1.44±0.50a | 0.80 |
0.0058 | 1.79±0.4a 3 | 1.78±0.42a | 1.77±0.45a | 1.30 |
0.32 |
Nectar foragers | 3.04±0.61c | 3.12±0.70b | 3.30±0.62a | 11.75 |
0.0002 | 3.46±0.60b | 3.28±0.62c | 3.92±0.54a | 2.57 |
0.0077 | 2.96±0.63b | 2.87±0.62c | 3.08±0.62a | 1.53 |
0.0025 |
Bee foragers | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value | 10.00 h | 13.00 h | 16.00 h | F-value | p-value |
Number of pollen foragers | 21.29±3.99 c | 27.00±5.29b | 30.71±5.99a | 0.27 |
0.0094 | 19.29±2.81c | 39.00±7.90b | 42.57±6.55a | 1.72 |
0.002 | 26.00±3.65c | 43.43±4.79b | 46.43±4.12a | 1.96 |
0.0014 |
Number of nectar foragers | 78.71±3.99a | 73.00±5.29b | 67.86±3.34 c | 0.69 |
0.0006 | 80.71±2.81a | 61.43±6.97b | 57.43±6.55c | 1.77 |
0.0018 | 74.00±3.65a | 56.57±4.79b | 53.57±4.12c | 0.87 |
0.0048 |
T1- Indian bee ( |
One individual bee, actively foraging in onion fields was collected through a test tube and released on to a pre-marked umbel and bagged with plastic mesh of 500 micron diameters to prevent escape. One bee per umbel was released every day from initiation of flowering up to seed set. Duration of release 1 hour |
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T2- European bee ( |
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T3- Himalayan bumble bee ( |
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T4- Hand gloves (Cloth) | The pollens were collected from un-bagged umbel through the cloth hand gloves and gently rubbed over the bagged umbel and covered with plastic mesh after pollination. Umbels were gently rubbed for 3 minutes |
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T5- Hand gloves (Rubber) | The pollens were collected from un-bagged umbel through the rubber hand gloves and gently rubbed over the bagged umbel and covered with plastic mesh after pollination. Umbels were gently rubbed for 3 minutes |
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T6- Sponge puff | The pollens were collected from un-bagged umbel through the puff and gently rubbed over the bagged umbel and covered with plastic mesh after pollination. Umbels were gently rubbed for 3 minutes |
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T7- Camel Brush | The pollens were collected from un-bagged umbel through the camel brush and gently sprinkled over the bagged umbel and covered with plastic mesh after pollination. Pollens were sprinkled for 3 minutes |
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T8- Control (Open) | The umbels were not covered and allowed for free cross pollination by all the pollinating agents |
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T9- Control (Close) | The umbels were covered with plastic mesh and only self-pollination was allowed |
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46.79 | 394±6.35b | 1.38±0.18b | 4.2±0.01b | 503.70 | |
36.46 | 307±9.02c | 1.05±0.22c | 3.9±0.02c | 383.25 | |
21.26 | 179±4.36d | 0.82±0.11d | 2.8±0.02d | 299.30 | |
Hand gloves (cloth) | 11.40 | 96±3.00f | 0.38±0.11g | 3.3±0.02e | 138.70 |
Hand gloves (rubber) | 8.79 | 74±3.61g | 0.34±0.09h | 2.9±0.03g | 124.10 |
Sponge puff | 17.34 | 146±4.73e | 0.66±0.19e | 3.1±0.02f | 240.90 |
Camel brush | 17.10 | 144±4.58e | 0.59±0.15f | 2.6±0.01h | 215.35 |
Control (open) | 85.99 | 724±7.00a | 3.90±0.47a | 4.7±0.01a | 1423.50 |
Control (close) | 7.84 | 66±4.04h | 0.31±0.04i | 2.2±0.01i | 113.15 |
SE(m) | 12.98 | 0.215 | 0.013 | ||
C.V. | 3.141 | 64.95 | 6.913 | ||
F-values | 2461.78* | 27.41* | 38.67* | ||
p-values | 0.00014 | 0.00007 | 0.000011 |
Hymenoptera (19 species) | |
Lepidoptera (17 species) | |
Diptera (14 species) | |
Coleoptera (5 species) |