Studies on the efficiency of pollination of lucerne in South Australia.

Abstract

A method of assessing the efficiency of pollination of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) has been developed. A number of samples, each consisting of 200 racemes, is taken, and the number of flowers produced and pods set on each raceme are tabulated. The efficiency of pollination is determined both by calculation of the proportion of flowers which produce pods, and by calculating the frequency distribution of numbers of flowers and pods per raceme. Hunter River lucerne in a cage without bees produced pods from only 10.5% of the flowers, as compared with 35.3% in the open field and 56.6% in a cage with bees. It is concluded that this variety of lucerne, in common with other varieties, requires to be pollinated by insects before it can produce commercial yields of seed.