Estimation of flowers and fruits production and loss in Moringa oleifera Lam

Abstract

Introduction - Moringa oleifera Lam. of the Mor-ingaceae family is mainly an allogamous species with abundant flowering observed in the field. Objectives - The objective of the present work was to identify the exact stage of flower loss; before pollina-tion, during pollination or after pollination. Materials and methods - A sample of 150 newly emerged flower bud inflorescences from 10 trees was randomly selected. These inflorescences were monitored every day from July to September 2019 and 2020 at Kom-silga in Burkina Faso (12°18'48.2"N, 1°64'60.2"W). The number of flower buds, open flowers, fruit set and mature pods were counted according to the tree's crown levels (bottom, middle and top). Results and discussion - During flowering period, 75% of initially formed flower buds reach the open flower stage, 13% reach the fruit set stage, and only 2% reach the ripe fruit stage. The study showed that the overall loss of flowers and fruits organs reached 98% during the whole reproductive period in Moringa oleifera. Losses in fruit set and pods are the most important. The greatest losses occur in the middle and top crown of the tree (p<0.05). Conclusion - The huge losses of floral organs observed at the open flower stages par-ticularly affect the flowering stage and pod formation and consequently the grain yield of Moringa.