Abstract
Among certain temperate crops such as small seeded legumes and some rosaceous fruits, yields have been influenced by the deliberate introduction into the proximity of the crop of insect pollen vectors.
In the tropics tree crops are common and improvement of yields by plant breeding is necessarily long term. It is possible that by raising the density of pollen vectors around certain crops short term increases in yield could be secured.
This paper is an attempt to outline the various considerations which would govern the manipulation of pollen vectors in the tropics. There is an assessment of the significance of pollination for cultivated plants and an examination of insect activity within the flower. Pollination studies of several individual crops are then briefly reviewed and some provisional conclusions drawn.
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Chapman, G.P. Pollination and the yields of tropical crops: An appraisal. Euphytica 13, 187–197 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00033308
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00033308