Extent of pollination and fruit set in cashew

Short scientific report

Journal of Plantation Crops, 2011, 39 (1): 157-160

Studies on extent of pollination and fruit set in cashew

(Manuscript Received: 20-12-10, Revised: 24-02-11, Accepted: 08-04-11)

Keywords: Cashew varieties, hermaphrodite flowers, geitonogamous and xenogamous pollination, pollen grains, gravitational fall, fruit set

The cashew is an andromonoecious plant with male (staminate) and hermaphrodite flowers on the same terminal inflorescence and thus amenable for xenogamous or geitonogamous pollination. As cashew pollen grains are sticky in nature and most of them will be held as clumped, pollination by insects is very much common. For maximum fruitset, hermaphrodite flowers need to be pollinated within 3-6 h of anthesis (Wunnachit, et al., 1992). Since maximum flowers open during forenoon hours, visit of pollinators during late forenoon and early afternoon hours may result in high rate of pollination and as such high level of pollination upto 98 percent was reported in Australia (Heard et. al., 1990). Under these circumstances, studies were undertaken to find out the extent of pollination occurring naturally in the plantation without any insecticide application even though such studies are already reported from insecticide treated cashew (Sundararaju, 2000, 2003 and 2004) and subsequently exact patterns of deposit/adherence of pollen grains on each stigma were also assessed in detail. As pollination by gravitational fall of pollen grains from upper to lower panicle was reported in mango (Maheshwari, 1934), confirmative studies on similar lines were made. The relationship between extend of pollination and final fruitset was worked out in order to find out its impact on enhancement of the productivity of cashew. Observations were made for three cropping (flowering) seasons of 2003-04 to 2005-06 on extent of pollination on different varieties (Vengurla-1, Vengurla4, NRCC- Selection-2, Bhaskara, Ullal-3, Dhana, and VRI-3) grown without any insecticide application at Puttur (coastal Karnataka) and on VRI-3 at Vridhachalam (coastal Tamil Nadu) by collecting hermaphrodite flowers (minimum of 100/variety) at random from different panicles and examined under stereomicroscope on the day of anthesis at the evening hours to estimate the extent of pollination based on the pollen deposit on respective
157

stigma of hermaphrodite flower (Sundararaju, 2000). For this purpose flowers were carefully collected with forceps without touching the stigma with the anthers of adjacent flowers and secured it in erect position in a flower rack. The flower rack was designed by covering open portion of 10 mm Petri dish (only top of the Petri dish was used) with mosquito net cloth. In the mosquito net cloth, regular spacing was created by cutting mesh threads in order to secure the individual flower in erect position without touching the adjacent flower (Fig. 1) and water was filled to keep the collected flowers in turgid condition. After accommodating 25 -30 flowers/ rack, the flower rack was closed by another top of Petri dish and secured tight with rubber band till the flowers were observed under microscope. At the time of microscopic observation, the pattern of pollen grains deposited was recorded and

Fig.1. Flower rack and forceps used for collection of flowers

D. Sundararaju

categorized as single or cluster of two or more than two pollen grains out of total pollen grains deposited on each stigma. Whole panicles of VRI-3 and Vengurla-4 varieties were caged for 60 days individually just before onset of flowering to exclude insect visitors and gently shaken every day at 14.00 h. and the final fruit set was recorded on 60th day after removing the cages. The gentle shaking was done to simulate wind movement inducing gravitation fall of pollen grains. Simultaneously fruitset was also recorded from respective tagged uncaged panicle as natural pollination. Gravitational fall of pollen grains from long stamen was estimated in the laboratory condition on above varieties, for which both hermaphrodite and male flowers were collected immediately after anthesis (before dehiscing of anthers of long stamen) and kept in erect position separately. In this case, the same flower rack was designed by covering the Petri dish with filter paper instead of mosquito net cloth and hole to accommodate the individual flowers in erect position was made without touching the adjacent flower and water was kept in the Petri dish to keep flowers in turgid condition for 24 hrs. (Fig. 2). The whole arrangement was kept without any disturbance and observation on gravitation fall of pollen grains from erect long stamen was recorded after 24 h.

The extent of pollination assessed by observing deposit of pollen grains on the stigma of hermaphrodite flowers during seasons of 2003-04 to 2005-06 was presented in Table1. The percentage of pollination ranged from 27.0 to 49.5 on seven varieties (Vengurla-1,
Table 1. Extent of pollination in different varieties of cashew recorded at Puttur and Vridhachalam during 2003-04 to 2005-06 flowering season Variety Extent of pollination (%)# 200304 200405 200506 Deposit of pollen grains / stigma+ No.S.E % deposited as 1-2 grains out of total pollen grains 66.0 (1-15) 65.7 (1-8) 63.3 (1-10) 73.7 (1-6) 66.7 (1-7) 84.9 (1-10) 66.7 (1-9) N.R

Vengurla-1* Vengurla-4* Bhaskara* NRCC Selection-2* Ullal-3* Dhana* Vridhachalam-3* Vridhachalam-3**

37.0 49.0 42.3 37.2 28.7 27.7 28.4 16.9

40.8 46.7 44.4 49.5 36.2 30.3 41.7 18.8

48.3 38.8 46.4 35.1 27.0 36.2 49.4 N.R

2.720.41 2.460.33 2.490.28 2.060.19 3.090.49 1.900.35 2.900.39 N.R

# Based on observation of minimum of 100 bisexual flowers/variety through stereoscopic dissection microscope; * Recorded at Puttur; **Recorded at Vridhachalam + Recorded during 2005-06; N.R- Not recorded; Figures in brackets are range of pollen grains deposited per stigma

Vengurla-4, NRCC- Selection-2, Bhaskara, Ullal-3, Dhana, and VRI-3) without any insecticide application and it was synonymous with earlier observation reported from insecticide sprayed fields (Sundararaju, 2000, 2003 and 2004). The confirmative studies on VRI-1 also indicated maximum of pollination of 54.6 percent (Table 2). Even though, range of pollination of 25.0 to 72.0 percent was
Table 2. Extent of pollination on VRI-1 cashew variety recorded during 200708 and 2008-09 Flower types Extent of pollination (%)# 46.8 Mean S.E (pollens/stigma) 2.69 0.58 2.93 0.37 3.26 0.48 2.14 0.39 4.00 1.42 3.48 0.47 Range (pollens/ stigma) 1-9 1-7

2007-08 2008-09 2007-08 2008-09 2007-08 2008-09 Before DA 16.2 (11.0012.00 hr)* After DA (12.0013.00 hr)* 36.8

Fig.2. Full components of flower rack used for gravitational fall

40.7

1-7

1-17

To assess of the final fruit set, hand pollination was done in Bhaskara variety during 2006-07. For this purpose, the bisexual flowers were manually pollinated every day and such flowers were tagged with the help of sewing thread. The final fruit set was assessed between 35 and 40 days of pollination and by the time the nuts were in matured green nut stage. During the month of December 2006, a total of 464 flowers were manually pollinated within a period of 14 days. Finally, a correlation was worked out between number of flowers pollinated and number of green nuts (final fruit set) recorded.
158

Evening 46.6 collected (17.00 hr)**

54.6

1-15

1-15

# Based on observation of minimum of 100 bisexual flowers/variety through stereoscopic dissection microscope; *Flowers visited by Apis cerana indica; ** Flowers collected at random; DA- dehiscing of anther of long stamen

reported by Reddy (1993) in the east coast (Andhra Pradesh), in the present studies, it could be observed in a range of 16.9 to 18.8 percent at similar major cashew

Extent of pollination and fruit set in cashew

region (Vridhachalam) of coastal Tamil Nadu (Table 1) and it may be due to pollination deficit (since it is less than 25.0%). However, lowest degree of natural pollination of 18, 26 and 28 percent in Malaysia, Jamaica and Kenya respectively was documented by Free (1993). But in Tanzania, Australia and Brazil, 78.0, 98.0 and 88.0 percent pollination respectively was reported by Northwood (1966), Heard et al. (1990) and Freitas and Paxton (1996). Considering above reports, the extent of pollination occurring in the west coast of India appeared to be within the expected range of pollination. The mean number of pollen grains deposited on each stigma on different varieties also varied from 1.9 to 3.1 (range: 1-15 pollen grains/stigma) and 63.3 to 84.9 percent of pollen grains were deposited either as singly or cluster of two pollen grains out of total pollen grains deposited on each stigma. It was again verified on VRI -1 variety during 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons and 47.1 to 74.4 per cent of pollen grains were deposited in the form of single pollen grain and 13.22 to 29.2 per cent of pollen grains were deposited in a clump of two pollen grains (Table 1 and Table 3). Report of deposit of single pollen grain on each stigma and mean of 2.2 to 3.1 pollen grains per stigma was indicated in the document of Free
Table 3. Pattern of pollen grain deposit on stigma out of total pollen grains deposited per stigma onVRI-1 cashew variety Flower types % of pollen grain deposited as 2007-08 2008-09 Single Clump Clump Single Clump Clump of 2 of > 2 of 2 of > 2 Before DA (11.00-12.00 hr)* 74.4 After DA(12.00-13.00 hr)* 56.2 Evening collected (17.00 hr)** 47.1 18.6 29.2 15.7 7.0 14.6 37.2 65.2 57.4 62.8 17.4 16.2 13.2 17.4 32.4 24.0

final fruit set on VRI-3 was observed from 20.8 and 64.6 percent of panicles of caged and uncaged panicles of VRI3 with 0.29 nut/panicle and 0.65 nut/panicle respectively; whereas on Vengurla-4, fruit set was observed on all panicles of both caged and uncaged with 1.0 and 1.8 nuts/ panicle respectively (Table 4). Thus it confirms that in cashew, geitonogamous pollination occurs besides regular
Table 4. Extent of fruitset recorded under experiment on gravitational fall of pollen grains Variety Caged panicles (gravitational fall) Uncaged panicles (natural pollination)

% panicles Mean no. nuts % panicles Mean no. nuts having fruitset / panicle having fruitset / panicle VRI-3* Vengurla-4** 20.8 100.0 0.29 (0-3) 1.0 (1) 64.6 100.0 0.65 (0-3) 1.8 (1-3)

* Mean of 48 panicles;** Mean of five panicles; Figures in brackets is range of nuts/panicle

insect pollination under natural condition. When gravitational fall of pollen grains from long stamen was estimated in the laboratory condition by keeping the newly opened flowers in erect position for 24 hrs., it was observed only from hermaphrodite flowers with a range of 3.3 to 26.9 percent among seven varieties (Vengurla1, Vengurla-4, Ullal-3, NRCC Sel.2, Bhaskara, Dhana and VRI-3) (Table 5). Among male flowers of same varieties, no such gravitational fall of pollen grains from long stamen could be noticed. The existence of geitonogamous pollination through gravitational fall of pollen grains is in similarity with pollination of mango (Maheshwari, 1934).
Table 5. Gravitational fall of pollen grains among cashew varieties Name of the variety NRCC Selection-2 Ullal-3 Bhaskara Vengurla-1 Vengurla-4 Dhana VRI-3 % flowers had fall of pollen grains from long stamen among# Male flowers 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Bisexual flowers 18.5 26.9 9.4 9.7 3.9 10.8 3.3

*Flowers visited by Apis cerana indica; **Flowers collected at random; DA- dehiscing of anther of long stamen

(1993). In spite of sticky clumped nature of pollen grains, deposit of the pollen grains as single pollen grain could occur probably due to dispersal of pollen grains aided through flight activities of various bees visiting the flowers. The extent of pollination recorded on VRI-1 after visit of honey bees (Apis cerana indica) clearly confirms that deposit of pollen grains on 16.2 to 46.8 per cent of hermaphrodite flowers before dehiscence of anther of long stamen was due to flight activities of bees resulting xenogamous or geitonogamous pollination. However, in spite of visit of all hermaphrodite flowers by honey bees, 46.8 percent flowers only had pollen deposit (Table 2). When the panicles of VRI-3 and Vengurla-4 varieties were caged individually to exclude insect visitors and gently shaken on every day at 14.00 hrs., the
159

# Based on observation of minimum of 100 bisexual flowers/variety

The final fruit set was observed to a tune of 24.6 percent on Bhaskara variety by hand pollination, whereas among naturally pollinated flowers, the final fruit set to a tune of 10.1 percent was observed. When the correlation was worked out between number of flowers pollinated/ day within a period of 14 days and number of final fruit set observed from manually pollinated flowers/day, it was

D. Sundararaju

highly significant with positive correlation (r = 0.77, significant at 1 %). Thus, this study has given vital indication that by enhancing the level of pollination, the productivity of cashew can be enhanced, for which, adequate active insect pollinators will help rapid transfer of pollens immediately after anthesis as suggested by Wunnachit et al. (1992) and therefore, suitable methods need to be devised for enhancement of pollination. Acknowledgement The author thanks the Director, Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur for providing the facilities. He also thanks Shri. Laxmipathi, Directorate of Cashew Research for the technical assistance. References
Free, B.J. 1993. Insect Pollination of Crops. Academic Press, London, pp. 122-124. Frietas, B.M. and Paxton, R.J.1996. The role of wind and insects in cashew (Anacardium occidentale) pollination in NE Brazil. J. of Agric. Sci. Cambridge 126: 319-326.

Heard, T.A., Vithanage, V. and Chacko, E.K.1990. Pollination biology of cashew in Northern territory of Australia. Aust.J. Agric. Res. 41:1101-1114. Maheshwari, P.1934. The Indian mango. Current Sci. 3:97-98. Northwood, P.J. 1966. Some observations on flowering and fruitsetting in cashew Anacardium occidentale L. Tropical Agric. (Trinidad) 43:35-42. Reddy, E.U.B. 1993. Pollination studies of cashew in India: an overview. pp.321- 324. In: Proc. Int. Symp. Polln. Trop., (Eds.). Veeresh, G.K., Uma Shankar, R. and Ganeshaiah, K.N., UAS, Bangalore. Sundararaju, D. 2000. Foraging behaviour of pollinators on cashew. The Cashew 14 (4):17-20. Sundararaju, D. 2003. Occurrence of bee fauna and extent of pollination in insecticide sprayed ecosystem of cashew. J. Palynol. 39:121-125. Sundararaju, D. 2004. Evaluation of promising new insecticides in large plots for management of tea mosquito bug on cashew. J. Plantn. Crops 32 (Suppl.):285-288. Wunnachit, W., Pattison, S.J, Giles, L., Millington, A.J., Sedgley, M. 1992. Pollen tube growth and genotype compatibility in cashew in relation to yield. J. Hort. Sci. 67: 67-75.

Directorate of Cashew Research Puttur (D.K.), Karnataka-574 202

D. Sundararaju

160