Pollination methods for watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)) fruit setting and yield

Pollination is an essential ecosystem function to sustain food security. Human made agroecosystem led pollinators to decline which ultimately reduced fruit setting and yield of watermelon production. A field experiment was conducted at Manahari Rural Municipality from March 2023 to July 2023 to study the effect of pollination methods on fruit setting and yield of two watermelon varieties. The experiment was laid out in two factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) having two watermelon varieties (Saraswati and Vishala) and three pollination methods (bee pollination, hand pollination, open pollination, and control) which were replicated thrice. The data regarding foraging activity of domesticated bee pollinators (Apis cerana F. and Apis mellifera L.) from open field condition and yield attributing parameters from experimental plot were recorded. In open field condition, Apis mellifera L. recorded the highest abundance (5.12 bees/m2/5 min.), foraging speed on male (5.14 second/flo..., , , # POLLINATION METHODS FOR WATERMELON (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)) FRUIT SETTING AND YIELD- Dumre’s Research Group

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7h44j102q](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7h44j102q)

## **Summary of Experiment dataset**

This dataset consists of two sheets containing observations from experiments aimed at evaluating the foraging behavior and speed of the pollinator species, as well as the reproductive attributes (including fruit set and yield) of various plant varieties under different pollination conditions.

## **Description of File Structure and Contents**

#### **Sheet 1: Foraging Behavior Data**

The first sheet captures data related to the foraging behavior of *Apis mellifera* and *Apis cerena* across different time periods within a day. The columns include:

* Species: The species of the pollinator observed (e.g., Apis mellifera).
* week: The week during which the observations were made.
* Days: The specific day of observation within the week.
* Abundance: The ab...