Agriculture
hossein sahabi; Mohsen jahan; alireza kochaki; Mehdi Nassiri Mahallati
Abstract
In general, corm weight and nutrient management are considered as the most important factors in relation to quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron. In order to investigate the effects of mother corm origin, mother corm weight and nutrient foliar application on yield and qualitative traits of ...
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In general, corm weight and nutrient management are considered as the most important factors in relation to quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron. In order to investigate the effects of mother corm origin, mother corm weight and nutrient foliar application on yield and qualitative traits of saffron, a field experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during the years from 2012 to 2015. The mother corm origin (Iranian and Spanish corms), mother corm weight 8 g and lower (small), 8.1–15 g (medium) and 15.1-23 g (large) and nutrient foliar application (application and control) were considered as the first, second and third experimental factors, respectively. According to the results, the larger mother corms significantly resulted in a greater number of flowers per m2, increased fresh flower and dry stigma + style yields. However, the effect of nutrient foliar application was observed to be not significant on these traits. When Iranian mother corms were planted, the number of flowers per m2, fresh flower and dry stigma + style yields were higher, compared with Spanish mother corms. For instance, flower number, fresh flower and dry stigma + style yields increased by 17, 13 and 14%, respectively, when planting Iranian mother corms. Nonetheless, picrocrocin concentration was higher (up to 3.8%) in the Spanish planted corm treatment. Based on the results, beside the optimal nutrient foliar application, the importance of adapting the corms origin with environmental conditions of the site designated for planting is emphasized.
Agriculture
ramin Esmi; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam; Alireza Koocheki; ahmad ahmadian
Abstract
In order to investigate the effects of mother corm weight (including 4.1-7, 7.1-10 and 10.1-13 g) and different levels of cow manure (including 30 (control), 60 and 90 t/ha) on flower characteristics and daughter corms of saffron, a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with ...
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In order to investigate the effects of mother corm weight (including 4.1-7, 7.1-10 and 10.1-13 g) and different levels of cow manure (including 30 (control), 60 and 90 t/ha) on flower characteristics and daughter corms of saffron, a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications was conducted during two cropping years (2012-13, 2013-14) in Zaweh county. The results of variance analysis in the first and second years showed that there were significant differences between the simple effects and the interaction effects in terms of most of the studied traits, and these differences were higher in the second year. The highest (56.8 m-2) and the lowest (41.3 m-2) flower numbers were obtained in 90 t/ha cow manure with bigger corm size ( 10.1-13 g) and 60 t/ha cow manure with smaller corm size (4.1-7 g) treatments, respectively. 60 t/ha cow manure with bigger corm size (10.1-13 g) and 60 t/ha cow manure with smaller corm size (4.1-7 g) treatments produced the highest (0.347 g.m-2) and the lowest (0.220 g.m-2) dry weight of stigma, respectively. The highest and the lowest of total number of daughter corms (504.2 and 264.7 m-2), total daughter corm yield (2677.3 and 1582.9 g.m-2) were shown in 90 t/ha cow manure with bigger corm size ( 10.1-13 g) and 30 (control) t/ha cow manure with smaller corm size (4.1-7 g) treatments, respectively. In addition, the mean comparison of interaction effect in the second year showed that there were significant differences between most of treatments. The interaction effects of studied traits in the second year showed that 90 t/ha cow manure with bigger corm size (10.1-13 g) and 30 (control) t/ha cow manure with smaller corm size (4.1-7 g) treatments produced the highest and the lowest flower number (231.0 and 156.5 m-2), stigma dry weight (2.062 and 1.053 g.m-2), total number of daughter corms (1024.5 and 505.5 m-2) and total daughter corms yield (4486.6 and 2133.1 g.m-2), respectively. Finally, it can be concluded that by increasing the use of cow manure (more than 60 t/ha) and the use of more than 7 grams mother corms, it is possible to improve the number and yield of daughter corms and these traits will increase the saffron stigma yield in the next coming years.
Other subject about saffron
Alireza Koocheki; Alireza Karbasi; Mohammad Seyyedi
Abstract
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a perennial plant which grows basically in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran. Despite saffron’s adaptation to these regions, the assessment of changes in cultivation area over the last 30 years reveals that cultivation of this crop has sharply increased. According ...
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Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a perennial plant which grows basically in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran. Despite saffron’s adaptation to these regions, the assessment of changes in cultivation area over the last 30 years reveals that cultivation of this crop has sharply increased. According to the available statistics, there are 21 provinces where saffron is cultivated on about 84,000 hectares of land. Nonetheless, saffron yield per unit area has aggressively fallen from 5.1 kg ha-1 in 1982 to 3.2 kg ha-1 in 2015. Saffron yield loss can be caused by several factors, such as mismanagement in agriculture section, economics and post-harvest processing as well as the recent droughts. Lack of attention to these factors could lead to further decline in saffron yield in the future. The saffron yield loss over the last 30 years is an alert for saffron-related institutions such as the universities, research centers and Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) to pay more attention to this crop and prepare more comprehensive programs. In developing these programs, the importance of government policies for planning and approving enough budget is to be highlighted. In this review, first we focus on the reasons for saffron yield loss during the last 30 years and then we try to provide some solutions in relation to these reasons.
Other subject about saffron
hossein sahabi; Mohsen Jahan; Alireza Kochaki; Mahdi Nasiri
Abstract
The corm size, nutrient management and corm type are the most important factors that may affect the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.). In order to study the effect of mother corm size and nutrient foliar application on flower and corm yield of Spanish and Iranian ...
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The corm size, nutrient management and corm type are the most important factors that may affect the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.). In order to study the effect of mother corm size and nutrient foliar application on flower and corm yield of Spanish and Iranian Saffron landrace, an experiment was conducted with factorial arrangement based on randomized complete block design with three replications during two growing seasons (2013-14 and 2014-15) at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran .The saffron corm type was considered in two levels (Iranian corm and Spanish corm), mother corm size were in three levels (1- 8g, 8.1- 15g, 15.1- 23g) and nutrient foliar application were in two levels (control and sprayed leaves with 7% micro and macro nutrients). The results showed that the effect of different mother corm size, corm type and nutrient foliar application on the number of flowers, flower fresh and dry weight (stigma + style) were significant. The highest number of flowers (48.6 flower.m-2), flower fresh weight (24.3 g.m-2) and saffron (stigma + style) dry weight (0.25 g.m-2) were obtained in 15.1-23g mother corm size, and the lowest were obtained in 8g > mother corms. In contrast, nutrient foliar application had not significant effect on total produced daughter corms. However, the highest number of flowers (43.7 flower.m-2), flower fresh weight (21.8 g.m-2) and stigmas dry weight (0.23 g.m-2) were obtained from Iranian corms in the second year. Hence, the use of appropriate weight for planting Iranian corms (over 15 g) with nutrient of foliar application can be useful for increasing the performance of the flowers and saffron corms.
