Exploring the role of marigold in honey bee conservation and its impact on Niger seed productivity

Pollination by honey bee plays a vital role in maintaining the natural balance of ecosystem and is the cornerstone of crop production. The dramatic declines in Insect pollinators including honeybees globally have raised concerns about the supply of pollination service to agriculture. Thus bring some part of agriculture land under marigold cultivation not only to generate income but also to conserve honeybees to cross pollinate their crops. The present study will discuss the economic significance of Marigold cultivation in honey bee conservation and to find out the role of honeybees on pollination and seed yield of Niger crop. The experiment was conducted at OUAT Farm, Semiliguda of Koraput district under Eastern Ghat High land zone of Odisha during Kharif 2023. The treatments were viz., T-1: Open pollinated with bee hive, T-2: Open pollinated without bee hive. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design. The seed quality and seed yield of Niger crop were significantly increased when the honeybees were supplemented to the open pollination. The maximum seed yield (674kg/ha) was obtained under open pollinated with bee hive. Consequently, it is suggested that to keep sufficient number of honeybees colonies in the vicinity of Niger crop field during its flowering period to increase the pollination efficiency and seed yield of Utkal Niger-150.