Saffron Agronomy and Technology

Abstract  The study was conducted in order to compare the yield of onion, flower, stigma, and some agricultural characteristics of the saffron plant as an alternative crop. This study was carried out as a complete randomized block design in 3 replications in three regions of Aliabad, Naqdeh, Qajlu, Miandoab, and Balanj, Urmia, and in each region, four ecotypes of Korqand, Hoz-sarakh, Jarf, and Shahnabad were cultivated evaluated for 5 years from September 2016. From the second year to the fifth year, flowers were harvested, and the agricultural traits of the ecotypes, including the number of flowers, fresh weight of flowers, dry weight of petals, stamens, and production stigma yield, were measured or recorded. In the sixth year, the yield and the number of corms produced were measured. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the ecotypes. The interaction effect of place in ecotype, year in ecotype, and year in place was also statistically significant. The highest yields of stigmas and flowers were produced in Aliabad Naqdeh region, and among the four saffron ecotypes cultivated, Korqand and Jarf ecotypes had the highest number and weight of flowers, the highest weight of stigmas, the number of corms and the weight of corms in all three regions, respectively. According to the results, the ecotypes of Korqand and Jarf ecotypes are recommended for cultivation in the central and southern parts of West Azerbaijan province.