Fourteenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Pollination is the process of pollen grains being exchanged in flowering plants to allow for fertilization and production. Due to several advantages such as complete control of environmental conditions, most growers appear to choose indoor crop production over open space crop production in recent years. However, Pollination problems arise when crops are produced in enclosed structures where natural pollination agents such as wind and bees, which are responsible for moving pollen grains from the anther to the stigma, are minimal. The goal of the study was to see how hand pollination and the growing season affected the growth and productivity of African horned cucumbers under (greenhouse and shade net environment). A factorial experiment with one factor different growing environment (greenhouse and shade net) was carried out. African horned cucumber plants were hand self-pollinated in the morning. Results show that hand pollination treatment during summer to autumn increased fruit number from 3 to 13 under greenhouse compared to shade net. The highest harvest index was observed under greenhouse (0.35) compared to shade net (0.28). It can thus, be deduced that hand pollination during summer to autumn season increased African horned cucumber yield in the greenhouse when compared to shade net. Therefore, farmers are encouraged to employ hand pollination when growing the crop under protected structures for profit and yield maximization.