| Abstract:Abstract【Purpose】 To study the effects of different agronomic measures on the fruit setting rate and seed quality of Cistanche plants, providing a scientific basis for the high-quality production of Cistanche seeds.【Methods】Hand-pollination with a brush was used to compare the efficiency of same-plant same-flower and different-plant different-flower pollination. Agronomic measures such as pollen spraying, bee activity range, and topping were applied, and the fruit setting rate, number of seeds per fruit, thousand-seed weight, and seed viability were statistically compared among the upper, middle, and lower parts of the inflorescences.【Results】 Compared with the control, the fruit setting rate, number of seeds per fruit, thousand-seed weight, and seed viability of Cistanche plants increased by 31.16%, 9.03%, 40.15%, and 55.41%, respectively, after different-plant different-flower pollination, while they decreased by 45.4%, 73.9%, 38.5%, and 11.3%, respectively, after same-plant same-flower pollination. Pollination efficiency of Cistanche plants was significantly correlated with the radius of bee activity, with an increase of 12.5%, 24.93%, 33.27%, and 33.52% in the fruit setting rate, number of seeds per fruit, thousand-seed weight, and seed viability, respectively, within 20 meters, and no significant changes in these indicators beyond 100 meters. Topping during the bud stage significantly increased the fruit setting rate, number of seeds per fruit, thousand-seed weight, and seed viability of Cistanche plants, while topping during the early and peak flowering stages had no significant effect. The lower part of Cistanche plants showed the best performance in all seed quality indicators after different agronomic measures. 【Conclusion】This study shows that placing a box containing 8,000 Italian honeybees for pollination within a 20-meter radius in a Cistanche field can significantly improve the fruit set rate and seed quality, which is of great reference value for the field production of Cistanche seeds. |
