Other subject about saffron
Hamidreza sharifi; zohreh nabipour; Hamidreza Tavakoli-kakhki
Abstract
In order to investigate the effect of planting density, corm weight and planting depth on the quantity and quality of corms obtained from saffron corm production fields, an experiment in the form of a factorial split plot in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications at the ...
Read More
In order to investigate the effect of planting density, corm weight and planting depth on the quantity and quality of corms obtained from saffron corm production fields, an experiment in the form of a factorial split plot in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Agricultural Research and Training Center and natural resources of Razavi Khorasan (Gonabad research station with latitude 34 degrees 21 minutes north and longitude 58 degrees 41 minutes east) was carried out in the crop years of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. In this research, planting density treatment (at four levels of 60, 90, 120 and 150 corms per square meter) in the main plot and factorial planting depth (at two levels of 15 ± 2 and 25 ± 2 cm from the soil surface) and corm weight (at two levels) level of 4±1 and 8±1 g) were located in the sub-plot. The results showed that higher density increased the number of daughter corms per square meter and the total weight of daughter corms per square meter and decreased the average fresh weight of a single corm, the ratio of the total weight of harvested corms to the planted corms and the coefficient of corm multiplication. In addition to this, the increase in the weight of mother corms and surface planting caused an increase in the number of daughter corms, the average fresh weight of a single corm, the total fresh weight of all corms, and the multiplication factor. The double interaction effect of density × corm weight on the number of daughter corms, the total fresh weight of all daughter corms, the interaction effect of density × planting depth on the average weight of a single corm and the ratio of harvested to planted corm weight and the interaction effect of corm weight × planting depth On the number of daughter corms in the second year, the average fresh weight of a single corm and the total fresh weight of all the corms per square meter were significant only in the first year. Based on this, the effect of increasing the weight of mother corms on improving the fresh weight of daughter corms at a depth of 15 cm was more than that of 25 cm. In general, it seems that at least in the fields that are cultivated with the aim of obtaining seed pods in the first years, using a density of 120 pods per square meter using standard mother pods (that is, the average pod weight) 8 grams) and surface planting (i.e. planting depth of 15 cm) is recommended, but for functional farms, larger mother corms have a relative priority only in the early years, and with the age of the field, the importance of its effect decreases. Based on this, it seems that it is possible to use a different strategy with a combination of less depth and especially more density to compensate for the effect of stem weight and achieve more performance overall.
Biotechnology and genetics
Mohammad Zakiaghl; Soroor Khorramdel; Alireza Koocheki; Jafar Nabati; Ahmad Nezami; Amin mirshamsi kachki; Abdollah Mollafilabi; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam; Mehdi Nassiri Mahallati
Abstract
Sustainable development of saffron production as one of the major and strategic goals of Iranian agriculture requires a well-defined and organized plan. Over the past half century saffron cultivation has increased 34-fold in Iran, more than any other crop. But the average yield did not follow this development ...
Read More
Sustainable development of saffron production as one of the major and strategic goals of Iranian agriculture requires a well-defined and organized plan. Over the past half century saffron cultivation has increased 34-fold in Iran, more than any other crop. But the average yield did not follow this development and is reducing with slight negative slope; so, the average saffron production in Iran has reduced from 5.76 kg/ha in 1973 to 3.42 kg/ha in 2017. It is also estimated that there is a 90-70% yield gap in Iranian saffron farms. Saffron pests and diseases such as saffron mite (Rhizoglyphus robini), saffron corm rot, saffron dry rot (Burkholderia gladioli) and saffron viral diseases are also responsible for quantitative and qualitative reduction of saffron yields in farms. Saffron is propagated by its daughter corms, so increasing the yield of saffron is directly related to the quality of mother corm seed. This paper describes the criteria’s needs to generate and certify prebasic, mother corm and seed corm classes of saffron for standard saffron corm schedule. Production of standard pathogen-free seed corms as the only means of saffron propagation in nature is a prerequisite for any planning to increase saffron yield. Undoubtedly, application of standard free pathogen corms along with other ecological and physiological indices of saffron plant will increase yield and improve Sustainable development indicators.
Agriculture
Mohammad Seyyedi; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam
Abstract
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a sterile triploid geophyte plant that is propagated by corms. Considering the crucial role of the mother corms quality in saffron production, a program for "STANDARDIZATION OF SAFFRON CORMS" should be developed in Iran, a measure that has not been taken up yet. There are ...
Read More
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a sterile triploid geophyte plant that is propagated by corms. Considering the crucial role of the mother corms quality in saffron production, a program for "STANDARDIZATION OF SAFFRON CORMS" should be developed in Iran, a measure that has not been taken up yet. There are several obstacles that stop us from having this comprehensive program, for example the lack of standard fields to produce high quality corms, the lack of a clear and precise criteria for sorting produced mother corms, the lack of supervision or poor supervision provided by authorized organizations on production and presentation of high quality corms and unbalanced supply and demand ratio in saffron corms markets, are considered as the most important reasons. Moreover, mixing the healthy and infected corms as well as the storage of corms, regardless of optimal temperature conditions or environmental hygiene, are considered as other challenges in the production and processing cycle of saffron. In this review, some obstacles and prerequisites for implementation of a comprehensive program for STANDARDIZATION OF SAFFRON CORMS are discussed. Further, useful approches and techniques for producing standard corms such as the establishment of managed fields, quality criteria for sorting harvested corms, and the principle storage of corms are outlined. In addition, some effective strategies for the implementation of this program, including the provision of training courses, comperhensive monitoring on the services and functioning in the supply and demand market of saffron corms, helping to meet the needs and demands of consumers, editing incentive plans and supportive programs to saffron producers are specifically provided.
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 ...
Read More
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.
