Agroecosytem dynamics on the interactions between passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) and insect pollinators

Abstract

Agroecosystems attract numerous insect species for nesting, breeding and especially for pollination function. While studies have been done in other nations about the ecological factors that determine fruit set in passion crop, there is little work so far carried out in Kenya over the same. Apparently, in Kenya, no effort has been made to study the ecology of carpenter bee and its effectiveness in passion fruit set. The study involved small-scale purple passion fruit farmers in Mua hills in Machakos County, Kenya). These small-scale farmers carry out production on farms measuring 0.20ha to 3.00ha. However, due to high returns of purple passion fruit farming, farms with an average size of 0.10acres (0.04ha) were considered. Therefore, the study covered farmers with 0.04 to 1.00ha of their farm under purple passion fruit. This research aimed at solving the environmental problems of pollination limitation of passion fruit crop by using ecological principles to establish the effect of land use on the ecology of the crop and that of the carpenter bee.