JOURNAL OF SAFFRON RESEARCH
Year:2017 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:10

Saffron is the world's most expensive plant and plays a significiant role in economic and social conditions in arid and semi-arid areas, thus annual yield prediction of saffron is very important. In this study, the prediction of saffron annual yield and identification of suitable areas of culture based on climatic parameters and climatic parameters affecting the saffron yield using data mining in the province of Khorasan Razavi is introduced. The results showed that by increasing the average temperature of the cold months and decreasing the average temperature of warmer months, the crop yield increased. Increased rainfall and sunshine hours during the growing season resulted in enhanced yield. Saffron yield had the greatest negative correlation with maximum temperature of April, the lowest negative correlation with the maximum temperature in May and the greatest positive correlation with maximum temperature of February and the lowest correlation with the minimum winter temperature. The results showed that various data mining techniques predicted suitable areas for cultivation better than annual yield. Among the models used, linear support vector machine (SVM-linear), radial basis functions SVM (SVM-rbf) and classification discriminant models had a better performance than others and their determination coefficient were 0.95, 0.93 and 0.84, respectively. Moreover, a good correlation was obtained between the area of cultivation and the saffron yield.

Lack of adequate knowledge and unfamiliar farmers are the factors causing low yield of Saffron in Iran. This study aimed to assess farmers' knowledge of Southern Khorasan in association with Saffron planting in order to find their weakness and strength to make effective efforts for increasing Saffron production. A researcher-made questionnaire with 36 questions related to planting of Saffron and 13 questions related to general information and extensional issues was made and distributed randomly to 235 subjects taken from the population under consideration.Dependent variable was defined as total score of the subjects for the correct answers to the questions. Statistical comparison among different levels of each independent variable was undertaken using SAS software through Tukey-Kramer test. The findings indicated that 1- subjects attended in extensional classes 2- subject with diploma and above certificate 3- subject with no insurance of the product had significantly (P<0.01) greater average score as compared to their counterpart. Moreover, those subjects living in village or they receive bank loan had significantly (P<0.05) greater average score. Short and long term programming are needed to promote the level of Saffron farmers' knowledge in the region.

In order to evaluate the effect of saffron petals on thigh meat quality in broiler, 250 birds were used in five treatments and five replicates including control (C), 2.5 gr per kilogram saffron petal (Sp2.5), 5 gr per kilogram saffron petal (Sp5), 7.5 gr per kilogram saffron petal (Sp7.5) and 10 gr per kilogram saffron petal (Sp10). The birds received feed and waterad libitum. At the end of experiment (42- day), two birds were slaughtered. Meat quality parameters such as: water holding capacity, drip loss, meat color (L*, a*, b*), pH and Malon Di Aldehyde (MDA) were measured in 1-, 3- and 5- day postmortem. Cooking loss, panel test (tenderness, juiciness and flavour), dry mater, protein and lipid of meat were evaluated in 1-day postmortem. Water holding capacity, drip loss, meat color (L*, a*, b*), pH and Cooking loss, dry mater, protein and lipid of meat were not significant among treatments. Malon Di Aldehyde increased significantly in C treatment compared with other treatments (P<0.05). Tenderness and juiciness decreased significantly in C and Sp2.5 compared with other treatments (P<0.05). The Results showed that saffron petal has antioxidant property and 2.5 g/kg of saffron petal can be improved thigh meat quality in broiler during refrigerated storage.

In order to evaluate the effect of different levels of Nano iron chelated fertilizer on the yield and yield components of saffron a randomized complete block design with three replications and three treatments was conducted in a four-year-old farm in South Khorasan during 2013-2014. Fertilizer treatment included three levels (zero, five, and 10 kg/ha). After the treatment application, traits including, the number of flowers in 50 grams, total number of flowers per m2, fresh and dry stigma weight and fresh flowers weight were measured.Analysis of variance showed a significant difference (P≤ 0/01) for the number of flowers per 50 gram, total number of flowers per m2 and fresh flowers weight in different levels of fertilizer. Mean comparisons showed that the 10 kg of fertilizer had a positive and significant effect on all traits. Correlation analysis indicated a positive and significant correlation between the total number of flowers with fresh and dry stigma weight and fresh flower weight. The results of linear regression analysis showed that the trait of the fresh flower weight justified about 77 percent of the total variations and the results of this analysis were similar with simple correlation analysis. So, dry stigma weight had significant and positive correlation (correlation of 100%) with fresh sigma weight in correlation analysis. Because so far, Chelated iron fertilizer at the nanoscale and microscale in terms of the effect on saffron yield not compared, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Nano-iron on the yield of saffron.

The bulk of water extraction from Zaveh-Torbat-e Heydarieh plain in Khorasan Razavi province be harvested by wells and extracted water are used mainly in agriculture. In the past few years, reduced rainfall and increased exploitation of groundwater resources has caused sharp drop in groundwater level.This attention to demand management approach in the exploitation of the water resources is necessary.In this regard, this study examines the factors affecting saffron farmers' willingness to pay for the use of groundwater using contingent valuation and Heckman’s two stage model. Data are collected using twostep random clusters method and completing questionnaires by 122 saffron farmers in 2015. The results showed that the average amount of their payments for underground water is estimated to be around 220 thousand of Rials per hour. The first stage of Hackman model showed that the level of education, saffron acreage, and the ratio of saffron earnings to average annual income had a significant positive influence on the probability of willingness to pay for underground water and in the second stage of Heckman model education and saffron yield had a significant positive effect and farmer's age had a significant negative effect on willingness to pay.

This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the trend of changes in phenolics and nitrogen contents in aerial, underground and rhizosphere of saffron based on a randomized complete block design with four replications during two years of 2008 and 2009. Four samplings were performed as follows: rhizosphere, corm and leaves were sampled in early Oct., early Feb., 2009, and early May, early July, 2010 from four- year old farms in central section of Abrood village in Torbat-e-Heidarieh city. In order to measure total phenolics and nitrogen contents Folin Cio-Calteau micro method and micro-kjeldahl methods were applied, respectively. Results showed that nitrogen and phenolic contents of saffron aerial and underground organs and rhizosphere were significantly different during sampling stages (p≤0.05).Nitrogen and phenolic contents of leaves were much higher than corm and rhizosphere. So the highest phenolic contents in the first, second, third and fourth sampling stages were recorded for corm, leaf, leaf and rhizosphere with 3.13, 7.47, 11.48 and 0.28 mg.kg-1, respectively. The maximum nitrogen contents in these stages were observed for corm, leaf, leaf and rhizosphere with 1.60, 2.29, 1.14 and 0.91 mg.kg, respectively. By increasing nitrogen content, phenolic increased linearly, so that correlation coefficient of nitrogen and phenolic contents were determined equal to r2 =0.92 **. Increase of nitrogen use affected by increase of carbon allocation due to increasing photosynthate production caused to increase phenolic concentrations as one of the most important secondary metabolites.

This research has been carried out to investigate the saffron cultivation conditions and its economic effects as a replacement of other crops due to high water use efficiency with an emphasis on sustainableagriculture in the Bonab-e-Jadid located in the county of Marand, East Azerbaijan. This study was done using descriptive questionnaires. At first, questionnaires were distributed through farmers based on population for gathering data. The results of this study showed that the average of stigma harvest was 4.7 Kg/ha, that in minimum rate 2 and in maximum rate was 6 Kg/ ha. an average annual earning was 9.7 million Toomans, in the lowest profit of 5 million and the maximum was 35 million Toomans. Also there is a significant difference between workers number and saffron harvested yield. On the other hand, the stigma production (4.7 kg per hectare) had highly significant correlation with initial cost (about 6 million Toomans per hectare) indicating this crop requirement to farmers caring. Obtained results of questionnaires showed the high satisfactory of farmers (57%), but dissatisfaction from stigma sale was observed because of lack of correct management and unknown saffron product of this region. So, paying attention to saffron cultivation and harvest methods in addition to increasing saffron farmers knowledge, can lead to improving rural livelihoods.

During the past few decades in the world, using plants with various applications such as pharmaceutical and industrial are growing. Herbal medicines are used to treat a variety of diseases in which the saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most important herbal medicines. Saffron is one of the native and valuable plants of Iran that has a significant role in the economic and social conditions of southern and central Khorasan province. Stigmas are the only part of saffron that are used and other parts are discarded as wastage. In this study, we investigated the phytochemical study of wastage of saffron. The wastage of saffron was collected from a farm near Birjand (32o24' 06.7"N 59o16' 53.5"E) in November and then were transferred to the freezer set at -15o C. In this study, the extract of petal and stamen was obtained from saffron waste using methods of maceration and ultrasonic with water, ethanol and methanol as solvent, and at the end of this study, the presence of carbohydrates were proved with several methods and the type of carbohydrates in saffron's wastage was determined using GC- MS methods. The presence of D- Allose and Levoglucosan were provided with GC-MS analyses for the first time.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) as the world most valuable agricultural product possesses the major amount of Iran's non-oil exports. Due to the importance of the quality of export products and in order to evaluate the relationship between nitrogen percentage of saffron stigma and its effective factors, a study was conducted in Qaenat county located in South Khorasan province, Iran) in which 48 farms were investigated during 2011 and 2012. The required information about the flower yield, type and amount of used fertilizers and animal manure were collected using questionnaires and percentage of the stigma elements were obtained from collected plant and soil samples from farms of central, Nimbolouk and Sedeh districts. The results showed that the highest and lowest percentages of stigma nitrogen were obtained by 2.92% and 2.65% at the ages of three and five years, respectively. Nitrogen percentage of stigma showed no significant difference between different manure and nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen percentage of stigma showed a positive linear relationship with percentage of soil organic matter for all ages and with its potassium percentage just for the ages of two and three years, while nitrogen percentage of saffron stigma showed a negative linear relation with flower yield and soil salinity. Also, nitrogen percentage of stigma showed a negative linear relationship with its phosphorus percentage for two and three years-aged farms, and a positive linear relationship was found for five and seven years-aged farms.Although, the amount of stigma nitrogen was (with an average of 2.79%) in limits set by the International Standards Organization, according to significant relationship between the percentage of stigma nitrogen with soil organic matter and salinity, the management of soil fertility and plant nutrition should be considered as essential and important issues in the farming systems.

During the past few decades, Iran is experiencing a serious climate change which in turn has caused severe water shortage across the country. This dilemma has encouraged policy makers to look for special crop plants with limited water requirements. Saffron has a long history in Iran. Although this crop has a cultivation potential in Kermanshah province, limited attention has been paid to its diffusion and adoption. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of saffron in Songhor and Sahne counties in Kermanshah Province. Qualitative research paradigm was used in this study. Among qualitative paradigm, grounded theory approach was used to determine the process used by potential three farmers to adopt saffron crop and sampling was non-random. Individual face to face interview and observation was used to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed using open and axial coding. To process the informations, the content analysis was used and findings validity was confirmed using triangulation process. Results revealed that the following factors influenced farmers adoption of saffron: being a pioneer, economic incentives of saffron crop, accessing to inputs, accessing to information sources, feasibility and marketing. So, training of potential adopters, investing on saffron processing and packaging, and further advancements of knowledge and skills are recommended.