Unusual pollinator attractants increase the fructification rate on West Indian Cherry Trees

Abstract

Although West Indian Cherry (WIC) trees have abundant flowering, specimens of this species have low fructification rates, potentially associated with the dependence of these plants on pollinators for cross‐pollination and fruit production. We quantified fructification rates and assessed the market value of pollination services by conducting an experiment with six treatments, including manual and open pollination, pollinator exclusion treatment, and open pollination with blue and yellow attractants. The investigation occurred at two sampling periods (November–December 2015 and January–February 2016) in a commercial orchard of WIC in Brazil. Despite the six different treatments in the two sampling periods, the fructification rate only differed in open pollination treatments with colour attractants, increasing the fructification rate between 160% (for blue‐coloured attractants) and 240% (for yellow‐coloured attractants). Considering that yield is directly affected by the increase in the fructification rate, the yield might be enhanced by up to 70 ton/ha by the coloured attractants. Economically speaking, this result means an approximate 130% increase in the earnings for farmers and maybe transferable to other crops contributing to food production and recognizing the importance of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services.