To determine the impact of Apis mellifera adansonii and Bradyrhizobium on pod and seed yields of Glycine max, field trials were carried out during 2012 and 2013 cropping seasons. Hence, 120 to 25658 flowers were labeled each year and divided into five treatments, differentiated according to whether plots were inoculated with Bradyrhizobium or not, or plants were protected from insects activities or not and the last treatment with flowers isolated then opened only to A. m. adansonii. The effects of Bradyrhizobium on nodulation, plant biomass and seed yield, as well as the foraging behavior of A. m. adansonii on flowers, the number of seeds per pod and the normal seeds' rate were evaluated. Results indicate that Bradyrhizobium significantly increased the number of flowers (P<0.001), root nodules (P<0.0001), plant biomass (P<0.0001), pod and seeds yields in inoculated plots. A. m. adansonii foraged on G. max flowers from 09.00 a.m. to 16.00 p.m. and throughout the whole blooming period. This insect intensely harvested only nectar. By comparing the yields of unprotected flowers to those of flowers isolated then opened to A. m. adansonii, 35.85% increase fructification index, and 73.09% increase in the number of seeds per pod due to this bee were recorded. The synergistic activity of insects and Bradyrhizobium increased the number of seeds per pod by 32.16% and the percentage of normal seeds by 32.87%. Our results reveal that inoculation of soybean plant at sowing with Bradyrhizobium and installation of hives close to the field could be recommended for a sustainable pods and seed yield improvement of this crop.
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a food crop legume, considered as one of the cheapest sources of protein. However, its culture is subject to attack by many pests that drastically reduce yield. An alternative for better pest control and increased yield is the simultaneous use of biopesticides and biofertilizers. The objective of this study was to control the pests, while optimizing yields of this legume in a sustainable manner. To achieve this, compost teas and rhizobia were first produced and characterized. Then a pot experiment was set up in a triplicated randomized block design comprising 11 treatments, in order to determine the ability of compost teas and rhizobia to control insect pests and optimize the yield of this Fabaceae. The characterization of the compost teas revealed that the pH varied around the neutrality with an abundance of alkaloids and terpenoids and the absence of tannins. The three isolates obtained were all Gram negative bacteria and did not absorb the dye Congo red. Compost teas reduced and stabilized thrips (Megalurothrips jostetti) population development. Non-aerated compost teas from Tithonia diversifolia (PNA) alone, and its association with rhizobia (Rh + TNA) resulted in a reduction of the number of flower buds attacks. Their effects appeared to be limited outside the pods as they did not positively affect the number of seeds attacked. Both PNA and Rh+TNA treatments increased pod number, and seed biomass. Rhizobia and rhizobia + non-aerated compost tea from Tithonia diversifolia (Rh+TNA) significantly increased the yield of this plant species.
The study of the variability of the flower visiting entomofauna between Palar and Djarengol-Kodek (Maroua, Cameroon) and the influence of the pollination type were carried out in 2020 for assessing their impact on sesame production. Three treatments of 50 plants each were used according to whether the flowers were open-pollinated (TA) or protected using mosquito net cages (TB) and plastic cages (TC) for analysis. The diversity and composition of the entomofauna were compared between localities from TA as well as the resulting pod and seed yields of the crop. 21 and 12 insect species were found foraging on sesame flowers in Palar and Djarengol-Kodek respectively. Hymenoptera had a high relative abundance ˃ 92% at both sites and played a key role in pollinating the flowers of the host plant species. The diversity index was higher in Palar (H’ = 3.10) than in Djarengol-Kodek (H’ = 2.64). The Jaccard similarity index between both sites was J = 0.43. During their floral activity, these bees promoted autogamy, geitonogamy and xenogamy on S. indicum flowers. The impact of the floral activity of bees on sesame pod and seed yields was in the range of 17.92% - 29.27% and 12.97% - 18.39% in Djarengol-Kodek and Palar respectively with a significant difference between these values (X2 = 156.20; df = 1; P ˂ 0.001 and X2 = 69.74; df = 1; P ˂ 0.001). These differences showed the important role of the variability of the composition and the relative abundance of pollinators on sesame production between sites. Moreover, bee pollination (TA) highly increased anemophily (TB) and cleistogamy (TC) in sesame. Encourage producers to adopt more environmental friendly management methods to help preserve the habitat of sesame pollinator species for better productivity is an important practice.
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