Integrated Cultivation Cayenne Pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) and Tetragonula Biroi in a Screenhouse System Muhamad Aldi Nurdiansyah (a,b*), Muhammad Yusuf Abduh (b,c), Mochamad Firmansyah (b,c), Khalilan Lambangsari (b,c), Agus Dana Permana (b)
a) Doctoral Program of Biology, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No.10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia *aldinrdnsyh[at]gmail.com
b) School of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No.10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
c) Univesity Centre of Excellence for Nutraceuticals, Bioscience and Biotechnology Research Centre, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No.10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
Abstract
Closed farming systems in screenhouses are increasingly being used in fruit horticultural farming, such as cayenne pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.). However, the unavailability of wild pollinator insects is a limiting factor. This study aimed to increase the fruit set and productivity of C. frutescens cultivated in a screenhouse system coupled with stingless bees, Tetragonula biroi (Hymenoptera: Apidae) while at the same time investigating foraging behavior, flower visitation rate, and abiotic factors that influence visitation rate of the T. biroi. This study used two treatments particularly wind pollination and T. biroi pollination to compare fruit set and productivity of C. frutescens. T. biroi performed pollination activities with an average time spent of 24.74 seconds/flower. The flower visitation rate was highest at noon (10:00 to 13:00) with 0.62 bees/hour, influenced by temperature, relative humidity, and light intensity. There was a significant difference in the percentage of fruit set between the wind pollination treatment (43.32 %) and the T. biroi pollination treatment (70.96 %). The estimated productivity of the wind pollination treatment is 1.04 tons/ha while for T. biroi pollination is 1.29 tons/ha in one harvest. This study shows that the pollination by T. biroi increased the percentage of fruit set (38.82 %) and the productivity (24.04 %) of C. frutescens in screenhouse.
Keywords: Cayenne pepper- Fruit set- Pollinator- Productivity- Tetragonula biroi
