Many factors influence the yield and quality of cucurbit crops, but one important consideration is successful pollination. Poor fruit set and deformed fruit are often the result of in adequate pollination. Cucumber flowers are pollinated exclusively by honeybees and other insect pollinators which is the major reason for successful pollination and increased yields. In this regard, keeping in view the pollination requirements of cucumber, a demonstration was conducted in 10 farmers’ fields of Bhumangunda and Mallapura villages of Devadurgataluk of Raichur district. The prioritized problems in these regions were the low and poor quality yields in cucumber and also farmers in this region were unaware of the bee-pollination. Around 200 hectares of land was under cucurbits in this area but no farmer was aware of using bee-boxes for pollination. In order to create awareness about bee-pollination and to enhance the quality and quantity of the produce, training programmes and demonstrations were conducted by ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Raichur. A total of 100farmers were given two consecutive training programmes well before the crop season and ten demonstrations were conducted to show the potentiality of bee-pollination in cucurbits. The results revealed considerable improvement in the quality and quantity of the produce of yield in cucumber and also farmers got extra income from the honey yield.

Honey bees, Pollination, Cucumber, Honey, Yield, Quality

Bee pollination provides a wide variety of benefits to humanity, contributing to food processing, raw materials, medicines, fibers, social, cultural values, and the maintenance of biodiversity and environmental protections. Fertilized soil, irrigated crops and pest control may not be enough to produce a quality cucurbit crop, if you’ve also had poor pollination. The present demonstration results showed that there was a substantial boost in the yield as well as quality of the produce of cucumber. Not only the farmers were happy about their yields but they also got additional income from the honey obtained from the beehives. At the same time, the pre-season training programmes were also effective in creating awareness and enhancing knowledge of farmers in rural areas regarding bee-pollination.

Shreevani G.N., Anupama C., Hemalatha K.J. and Mallika Meti (2023). Bee Pollination: Its Role in Yield and Quality Enhancement in Cucurbits. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(12): 431-434.