Agriculture
Sajjad Moradi Moghaddam; Hamid-Reza Fallahi; Mohammad. Ali Behdani; Sohrab Mahmoodi
Abstract
The storage conditions of saffron mother corms during the summer dormancy period, including natural and pseudo-dormancy stages, can probably affect the vegetative growth and the production of replacement corms (RC), which has not received enough attention in previous scientific studies. This experiment ...
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The storage conditions of saffron mother corms during the summer dormancy period, including natural and pseudo-dormancy stages, can probably affect the vegetative growth and the production of replacement corms (RC), which has not received enough attention in previous scientific studies. This experiment was carried out as a complete randomized block design with seven treatments and three replicates during the 2019 growing season in Qaen, Iran. Experimental treatments were three types of corm storage inside the soil [corm planting on 5th June (A) with natural soil temperature as control, A + summer irrigation on 5th August, and A + mulch application obtained from wheat residues at the rate of 8 ton.ha-1)] and four types of corm storage outside the soil [corm storage at room (ambient temperature) for three months started from 5th June + corm planting on 5th September (B), corm storage in constant temperature (25 oC and relative humidity of ~40 %) in incubator for three months + B, three months corm storage at variable temperature in incubator (one month in 20, 25 and 20 oC) + B and corm storage in room temperature (up to 5th August) and incubator (up to 5th September) + B. The studied traits were the length, number, and weight of leaves, the number and weight of the total RC, the weight of the main RC, the average weight of RCs, and the number and yield of RCs in different weight groups. The results showed that mulch application caused the highest length and number of leaves (35 cm and 9 No per plant, respectively). Incubation of corms at variable temperatures led to a significant increase in the total weight of RC. In contrast, incubation at constant temperature had most significant effect on the number of RC (2022 corms per m2). The highest and the lowest mean weights of RC were obtained in the mulch application (7.23 g) and incubation at constant temperature (2.22 g), respectively. Plant residue treatment (mulch) decreased the number of small RC (less than 6 g) and increased the number of RC in the weight groups of 9-12 and 12-15 g. Incubation of mother corms at variable temperatures led to an increase in the number and yield of RC weighing more than 15 g. Overall, the treatments of plant residue consumption and storage of mother corms at incubator with variable temperatures, in which 66% and 61% of the RC yield was in groups weighing more than 9 g, respectively, were the best experimental treatments in terms of improving the growth of RC.
Agriculture
Alijan Salariyan; Sohrab Mahmoodi; Mohammad. Ali Behdani; hamed kaveh
Abstract
In order to investigate the effect of salinity levels, bio fertilizer and nano fertilizer of Fe on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of saffron, a factorial experiment was conducted as a combined analysis in location by a randomized complete block design with three replications. Bio fertilizer ...
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In order to investigate the effect of salinity levels, bio fertilizer and nano fertilizer of Fe on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of saffron, a factorial experiment was conducted as a combined analysis in location by a randomized complete block design with three replications. Bio fertilizer was applied at four levels of zero, 500, 1000 and 1500 kg ha-1 and nanoparticles of Fe was applied at two levels of non-consumption and application of four liters per hectare. These factors were investigated in two locations with different irrigation salinity (2.29 and 4.49 dS m-1). The results showed that there were the highest values for traits of weight of flower, number of flowers, dry weight of stigma and weight of stigma + style in irrigation conditions with a salinity of 2.29 dS m-1. In the mentioned traits, under the conditions of irrigation with salinity of 2.29 dS m-1, there was no significant difference between the application and non-application levels of nano fertilizer of Fe; However, in the conditions of irrigation with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1, the application of nano fertilizer of Fe compared to non-application, caused a significant increase of 35.5, 33, 32.8 and 34.1% of these traits, respectively. Comparison of mean for triple interaction showed that at both salinity levels of 2.29 and 4.49 dS m-1, in the absence of bio fertilizer, the application of nano fertilizer of Fe could significantly increase the amount of crocin. However, in the application of different levels of bio fertilizer, the application of nano fertilizer of Fe reduced significantly the amount of crocin. The highest amount of safranal was observed in salinity of 4.49 dS m-1 and in the treatments of application of 500 and 1500 kg per hectare of bio fertilizer and application of nano fertilizer of Fe as well as non-application of bio fertilizers and nanoparticles of Fe. Irrigation with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1 in bio fertilizer levels (except for 500 kg ha-1) caused a significant increase in picrocrocin. In generally, it seems that for achieving higher yields, irrigation with less saline water and in case of irrigation with water by more than salinity of 4.2 dS m-1, the use of nano fertilizer of Fe to moderate the effects of salinity is recommended.
Agriculture
Hamid-reza Fallahi; Mohammad. Ali Behdani; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam; Majid Jami Al-Ahmadi
Abstract
Many activities during production, processing, trade and consumption of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Iran, are based on indigenous knowledge. Most share of saffron production in the country is obtained from small fields with family cooperation and using local environmental friendly inputs and technologies. ...
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Many activities during production, processing, trade and consumption of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Iran, are based on indigenous knowledge. Most share of saffron production in the country is obtained from small fields with family cooperation and using local environmental friendly inputs and technologies. Accordingly, a cosidarable part of saffron produced in Iran is close to the principles of organic farming, but in terms of rules and standards related to this production system, it is considered only as a quasi-organic product. Organic farming is a comprehensive production system that focuses on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of agricultural product during the production cycle (from farm to fork), as well as issues such as justice, social relations, soil health and the rights of all macro and mico organisms. Based on this definition and considering the principles and methods which are used for saffron production in Iranian agroecosystems, it is possible to create a targeted procrdure for its organic production, by perparation a standard. The preparation of this standard, while increasing farmers' incomes, will lead to maintaining and increasing Iran's share of the global market of this valuable medicinal plant. In this article, for all stages of saffron production cycle, using the results of scientific researches on saffron, as well as international, regional and national standards related to organic production, a set of general principles, suggestions (recommendations), requirements and notes are provided. The recommendations are mainly suitable for increasing the quantitative yield, while higher quality of saffron can be achieved by observing the proposed requirements. The guidelines proposed in this paper, besides improving the quantity and quality of the product, will also ensure the other objectives and rules related to organic farming. In the current proposed program, issues related to agronomy (corm production and selection, land selection and preparation, planting, soil nutrition, irrigation, control of biotic stresses, etc.), breeding, harvesting and post-harvest (flowers carrying and storage; separation, drying, grading, packing, labeling and storage of stigma) as well as processing and legal issues have been considered.
Other subject about saffron
Mohammad Ali Behdani; Mahdi Gerami Sadeghian; Seyed vahid eslami; Mohammad Hossein Aminifard
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of foliar application of Acadian seaweed extract and Biomix liquid poultry manure on vegetative growth, corm, and yield of saffron. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the city of Ferdows city ...
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The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of foliar application of Acadian seaweed extract and Biomix liquid poultry manure on vegetative growth, corm, and yield of saffron. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the city of Ferdows city during the 2017-2018 growing year. Experimental treatments included four levels of Acadian seaweed extract (0, 1, 1.5, and 2 kg. l000 L-1 water) and four levels of liquid Biomix liquid poultry manure (0, 4, 5, and 6 L. l000 L-1 water). The results showed a significant effect of treatments on the studied traits, such as maximum number of flowers (99.50 N. m-2), fresh yield of flowers (33.34 g.m-2), dry weight of saffron stigma (0.341 g. m-2), dry leaf weight (0.592 g plant-1), and leaf length (63.75 cm) obtained in 2 kg. l000 L-1 seaweed extract. Besides, the results showed a significant effect of liquid poultry manure on flower number and yield (94.250 N.m-2 and 32.285 g. m-2, respectively), leaf length (60.66 cm), fresh and dry leaf weight (0.74 and 0.46 g.m-2, respectively), and total weight of replacement corm (37.02 g.m-2). Also, the least amount of the mentioned traits were observed from the control treatment. The interaction between these two fertilizers was also significant in fresh and dry leaf weight and the total and average diameter of replacement corm. Thus, fresh and dry leaf weight (210% and 273%, respectively) were highest in the treatment of 2 kg. l000 L-1 of seaweed extract and 6 L. l000 L-1 of liquid poultry manure. Moreover, total and average diameter of replacement corm (33% and 50%, respectively) were highest in the treatment of 2 kg. l000 L-1 of seaweed extract and no liquid poultry manure. According to the results of this study, the use of Acadian seaweed extract (2 kg. l000L-1 water) alone or in combination with Biomix liquid poultry manure (6 L. l000 L-1 water) can play an important role in enhancing the vegetative growth, corm, and yield of saffron.
Other subject about saffron
Fahime KHadempour; Abbas Khashei Siuki; Mohammad Ali Behdani
Abstract
Saffron as the most precise agricultural and pharmaceutical product of the world has a specific place in industrial and export products of Iran. Nowadays, Iran is the largest producer and exporter of saffron in world and up to 93.7% of production of this valuable commodity belongs to Iran. Despite the ...
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Saffron as the most precise agricultural and pharmaceutical product of the world has a specific place in industrial and export products of Iran. Nowadays, Iran is the largest producer and exporter of saffron in world and up to 93.7% of production of this valuable commodity belongs to Iran. Despite the antiquity of saffron cultivation and added value of this product compared to other current crops of Iran, fewer shares of new technologies are dedicated to saffron and its production is mainly based on indigenous knowledge.In thispaper, multiple models are employed to evaluate and develop the performance of KStar and LWL in order to get an estimate on production yield of saffron based on climate parameters. Thecalibration and evaluation of models are obtained from the statistics of crop yield and climate factors betweenyears 1988–2017. In order to evaluate the employed models, the following statistical criteria were used: Coefficient of Determination (R2), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Nash- Sutcliffe (NSE). From among the proposed models, the KStar model is in the e-scenario with an R2 of 1.00, MAE and RMSE of 0.00 and NSE of 1.00, which has good accuracy in estimating production yield of the saffron plant. This precision of the KStar model has made it easy to estimate performance of saffron in different areas of the country based on the data available at different stations.
Biotechnology and genetics
Mohammad Ali Behdani; Ali Izanloo
Abstract
Saffron is the most valuable spice in the world. It is genetically a monomorphic clone. However, differences in phenotype and quality have been reported. The most important agro-economically phenotypic variation is the appearance of flowers with more than three stigmas. The main objective of this study ...
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Saffron is the most valuable spice in the world. It is genetically a monomorphic clone. However, differences in phenotype and quality have been reported. The most important agro-economically phenotypic variation is the appearance of flowers with more than three stigmas. The main objective of this study was to study the genetic variability of saffron clones with more than 3 stigmas using SSR and ISSR molecular markers. In this research, saffron clones with more than three stigmas were collected along with the corm and the root from Saffron fields of Qaen and Sarayan, South Khorassan province, then transferred as a whole to the Biotechnology Laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Birjand. The number of stigmas in each flower was counted. Genomic DNA was extracted according to the CTAB method from leaves of the flower with more than three stigmas. Flower with more than three stigmas was larger and had more petals than ordinary ones. The most frequent number of flowers with more than three stigmas was related to four and five stigmas with 38%. Six-spike samples with a frequency of 14% were observed. Among the collected samples, only one specimen with seven stigmas was observed. Of the 48 tested ISSR primers on the bulk of DNA, only 16 primers had amplified bands and selected. The results of agarose gel electrophoresis for ISSR primers amplified the bands ranged from 100 to 1000 bp. By examining the bands formed for ISSR primers, no significant polymorphism was observed between different clones of saffron. Therefore, based on this marker system, no sign of genetic diversity was observed between clones with different number of stigmas. Among the tested SSR markers, 10 primer pairs showed amplified band among the clones. The results of correlation analysis based on Spearman correlation coefficient showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between microsatellite marker alleles and number of stigmas.
Agriculture
Mohmmad Hosein Aminifard; Ali Oftadeh Fadafen; Farid Moradi Nezhad; Mohammad Ali Behdani
Abstract
The effects of applications of vermicompost and nitroxin on corm characteristics and flower yield of saffron were evaluated under field conditions in the research farm of Birjand University, Iran, during the cropping year 2015-2016. Treatments were of four levels of vermicompost (0, 5, 10 and 15 t.ha-1) ...
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The effects of applications of vermicompost and nitroxin on corm characteristics and flower yield of saffron were evaluated under field conditions in the research farm of Birjand University, Iran, during the cropping year 2015-2016. Treatments were of four levels of vermicompost (0, 5, 10 and 15 t.ha-1) and three levels of nitroxin (0, 5 and 10 L.ha-1). This experiment was carried out as factorial based on randomized completely block design with three replications. The results showed that vermicompost improved the corm vegetative indices (total weight of corm, average fresh and dry weight of cormel and diameter of cormel). The highest total weight of corm was obtained in plants treated with 15 t.ha-1 vermicompost. Also results showed that vermicompost improved the saffron flower characteristics (flower number and fresh total yield, flower length, stigma fresh and dry yield) in second year of study. The highest stigma fresh (1.63 g.m-2) and dry (0.41 g.m-2) yield were obtained in plants treated with 10 t.ha-1 vermicompost, while the lowest values (0.77 and 0.21 g.m-2) were recorded in the control. Application of different levels of nitroxin has a positive effect on flower number and fresh total yield, stigma dry yield in the second year of the experiment. The highest stigma dry yield was observed in 10 L.ha-1 nitroxin (0.36 g.m-2), while the lowest value was recorded in control (0.24 g.m-2). Application of different levels of vermicompost and nitroxin had a positive effect on the total weight of corm, average flower length and stigma fresh yield. Thus, the results showed that 5 L.ha-1 nitroxin and 10 t.ha-1 vermicompost had a significant impact on replacement corm characteristics and flower yield of saffron.
Agriculture
Mohammad Ali Behdani; Gholamreza Zamani; Hamid-reza Fallahi; Mohammad Hassan Sayyari Zohan; Alireza Samadzadeh
Abstract
The use of corms with appropriate weight is one of the main factors in the flowering of saffron. Thus, the impacts of six organic (OS) and conventional (CS) production systems on the growth of saffron replacement corms was studied during one growth cycle from October 2015 up to May 2016 in this experiment. ...
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The use of corms with appropriate weight is one of the main factors in the flowering of saffron. Thus, the impacts of six organic (OS) and conventional (CS) production systems on the growth of saffron replacement corms was studied during one growth cycle from October 2015 up to May 2016 in this experiment. The experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block design with three replications and six treatments including low, medium and high input organic systems as well as low, medium and high input conventional systems. A transition period of 24 months was considered in the chosen field before corm planting. Based on the results of an analysis of variance, the effect of experimental treatments was significant on the growth properties of most replacement corms (RC). The results of means comparison revealed that the differences within each organic or conventional system were insignificant but they were found to be considerable between the two OS and CS production systems. Total RC weight per clone and the number of flowering buds per RC in the OS production system were on the average 40% more than that of the CS production system. The amount of mean RC weight for OS and CS was 4.75 and 2.54g, respectively. The percent of RC with weight of less than 5g in the CS production system was higher than that of the OS production system (70 vs. 84%), while the percent of RC in 5-10g (13 vs. 14.5%) and more than 10g (3 vs. 15.7%) categories in the OS production system were more than that of the CS production system. The mean value of flowering buds had a significant correlation with the total RC weights per clone (+0.58**), mean RC weight (+0.64**), number of small RC (-0.57**) and number of large corm per clone (+0.61**). In addition, there was a significant correlation between the mean RC weight with the number of RC per clone (-0.55**), the RC weight per clone (+0.73**), the number of small RC (-0.89**) and the number of large RC per clone (+0.81**). Overall, the employment of OS had a significant positive effect on the growth of saffron replacement corms especially on mean corm weight and the number of flowering buds.
