Water deficit regimes and techniques using moisture-absorbing materials are key approaches to achieving sustainable agriculture goals and conserving water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. To evaluate the effect of superabsorbent polymers on water productivity and the quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron under deficit irrigation conditions, a field experiment was conducted over three growing seasons (2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023) in agricultural lands of Ziar, a district of Isfahan, Iran. The experiment was designed as a split-plot within a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The main plots included three levels of irrigation (50%, 75%, and 100% of water requirement), while the subplots consisted of various levels of superabsorbent polymer application (0, 50, and 100 kg. ha-1). The results were analyzed at a 95% significance level. The findings revealed that the highest values for leaf number (25 and 34 leaves per plant), dry leaf yield (3845 and 4926 kg. ha-1), fresh flower yield (1559 and 1912 kg. ha-1), dry stigma yield (11.8 and 17.8 kg. ha-1), corm number (278 and 345 per m²), and corm yield (32.1 and 45.1 t. ha-1) were obtained in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 growing seasons under 100% irrigation combined with 100 kg. ha-1 of superabsorbent polymer application. Notably, improvements in these crop parameters were significantly greater when superabsorbent polymers were used under water-deficit conditions compared to full irrigation conditions. Furthermore, the highest water productivity was achieved under the 50% irrigation treatment combined with 100 kg. ha-1 of superabsorbent polymer, yielding 0.005 and 0.007 kg. m-3 of water. Additionally, the 75% irrigation treatment along with 100 kg. ha-1 of superabsorbent polymer resulted in the highest concentrations of crocin (13.0% and 12.4%), picrocrocin (6.6% and 5.9%), and safranal (2.6% and 2.4%) during both experimental years. Overall, the results indicated that while the highest quantitative yield of saffron was achieved with full irrigation and the application of superabsorbent polymer, the best outcomes in terms of saffron quality were observed under the 75% irrigation treatment combined with the polymer application. Considering the limited water resources in the studied area and the importance of water productivity, this treatment is recommended as the optimal approach for sustainable saffron production in regions with conditions similar to the experimental site.