Saffron Agronomy and Technology
Year:2018 | Volume:6 | Issue:1|Papers Count:9

Saffron is one of the most important crops and medicinal plants in Iran and plays an important role in non-oil exports of the country. Although Iran has the largest area under cultivation of saffron, its yield is low compared with global production. The main objective of this study is to investigate the yield of flowers and quantitative characteristics of daughter corms under the effects of application of plant growth regulators priming and two different corm sizes. A factorial experiment arrangement in RCBD with four replications was conducted, under the terms of pot at the College of Aburaihan-University of Tehran, Iran during 2015. Small (3-5g) and large (8-10g) mother corm sizes were hormonal priming by gibberelic acid (GA3), cytokinin (BA), auxin (IBA) with 250 ppm concentration and before cultivation. The start of flowering, number and flowers yield, fresh weight of flower, fresh and dry weight of stigma, number and weight of daughter corms per mother corms were measured. The results showed that in all traits except the start of flowering large corms weighing of 8 to 10 g were cultivated in comparison with small corms and this was significant at the 1% level. Application of cytokinins hormone in comparison with control for all traits except the start of flowering and weight of daughter corms showed a significant difference at 1%. Application of gibberellic acid hormone treatment also accelerated flowering. In addition, it increased the weight of daughter corms by 56% in large mother corms compared to control and this had a significant difference from control at 1%. Auxin (IBA) in the number of flowers had no significant difference with control and also in other traits, although IBA was better than control, with both BA and GA3 treatments had a significant difference. The results indicated that the use of large mother corms with hormonal priming with BA and GA3 will improve flower and corm yield in the first year.

Emergence of saffron buds is sensitive to soil compaction and structure. Soil bulk density is introduced as the most important index of soil physical quality. Accordingly, this study was done to evaluate the effect of compost and compost-biochar in planting bed on the emergence and early seedling growth of saffron ecotypes and its relationship to soil bulk density. Experimental treatments consisted of planting beds (without any organic amendment (control), incorporation of 20 t. ha-1 compost and 10 t. ha-1 compost+ 8 t. ha-1 biochar (cellulosic material of hardwood)) and different ecotypes of saffron (Bajestan, Estahban, Ferdows, Gonabad, Natanz, Qaen, Sarayan, Torbate-Heydarieh and Zarand). Data obtained from experiment were subjected to combined analysis of variance among planting beds based on randomized complete block design. The results showed that application of compost and compost+biochar, improved emergence of the main and lateral buds as well as leaf growth parameters compared to the control. Zarand, Torbate-Heydarieh and Estahban ecotypes responded differently to the planting bed types in terms of emergence percent and rate of main bud compared to other ecotypes. Considerable variation was observed among the ecotypes in terms of all studied parameters, which indicated the adaptability of ecotypes to climatic conditions of corm provenance. Generally, the Bajestan, Ferdows and Qaen ecotypes showed superiority in terms of leaf area and dry weight. Compost and compost-biochar significantly (12%) reduced the soil bulk density compared to the control. Linear regression analysis indicated that there was a negative relationship between soil bulk density and the studied parameters, and significant decrease in all parameters was observed with increasing of soil bulk density.

In order to evaluate the allelopathic effects of saffron (Crocus sativus L. ) corm and leaf aqueous solution on germination characteristics and preliminary growth of weed species including wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and couch grass (Agropayron repense) two separate experiments for each species were conducted at the research laboratory of the School of Agriculture of the University of Birjand in 2016. A factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted for each species. The factors included saffron organs at two levels (leaves and corms) and water extract concentrations at 5 levels (0, 0. 5, 1, 1. 5 and 2 percent). The results indicated that the lowest seed germination percentage of wild barley and couch grass were observed at a concentration of 2% of leaf and concentration of 2% of corm, respectively. The results indicated that the lowest rate of germination of wild barley and couch grass were observed at a concentration of 2% of leaf and corm extract, respectively. Different concentrations of leaf and corm extracts significantly decreased the length of radicle, seedling fresh weight and seedling dry weight of two weeds. The logistic model provided a successful estimation of the relationship between leaf water extract and germination percentage of two weeds. Based on orthogonal comparison tests, the allelopathic inhibitory effects of saffron leaves and corms were the same for two weeds. The results showed that leaf extract of saffron the most influence on wild barley and corm extract of saffron the best effect on couch grass. Therefore, results of this study, confirm that can be used the allelopathic effects of saffron to reduce these two weeds in the field.

Saffron is a strategic product. It is necessary to manage the programming principles in order to estimate acreage and production. Therefore, the speed and accuracy of such assessments is very important. Using remote sensing techniques for providing updated data and high functionality as well as the possibility of studying a wide range of image analyses with an acceptable precision can help in the assessment. In the present research, the area under cultivation of saffron in the city of Torbat Heydarieh was evaluated using Landsat 8 sensor data. After applying the primary processing on satellite images with using conventional techniques, satellite imagery processing including false color band combination, principal component analysis, vegetation index (NDVI, SAVI, EVI, DVI, RVI and TSAVI) and supervised classification of land under saffron cultivation were identified. Map production was done due to the fact that the earth was assessed via GPS in order to assess the classification. Kappa coefficient and overall accuracy were %88 and %98, respectively. The area under cultivation of saffron in this study was estimated to be 19503. 4572 hectares. The results indicated that Landsat 8 satellite images have a high potential for rapid separation and identification of the area under cultivation of saffron in the region with relatively good accuracy and are appropriate tools to be used on a regional scale.

Saffron is one of the most important herbs and spices in the East of Iran and its production is affected by various pathogens. This study is aimed at isolation, identification and pathogenicity detection of Alternaria alternata isolates as leave spot and corm rot of saffron agents. Soil samples and infected plant tissues were collected from different areas of the Birjand plain (Birjand, Khusf and Sarbishe) during the years 2014-15. Alternaria species were isolated by potato dextrose agar medium and their morphological characteristics were studied on the potato carrot agar medium. For molecular studies, genomic DNA was extracted by the CTAB method and ribosomal subunits of fungal isolates were amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. Based on morphological characteristics, 80 isolates of A. alternata were isolated. The ITS regions sequences of selected isolates had 100 similarities with A. alternata spices sequences in NCBI and MycoBank. These isolates caused chlorosis and necrosis on detached leaves, the inoculated corm was rotten and inoculated plants showed chlorosis and necrosis on leaves after 3-5 days. The results showed that A. alternata in the Birjand plain can cause corm rot and leaf chlorosis and necrosis is saffron. This study is the first report of the virulence of this fungus on saffron tissue in the East of Iran.

Monetary valuation of agroecoystem services makes them attractive for the society and policy makers should pay more attention to conservation of these services. In this study, the economic value of services as well as negative environmental externalities of saffron fields were estimated in the Khorasan Razavi province during 2015. Information was extracted from questionnaires collected from 75 fields. Using these data, economic values (such as O2 production, food, biodiversity and tourism) together with environmental externalities (including greenhouse gas emission and N and P leakage) were computed based on international value of dollar. Based on the results of the study, the mean values of the agroecosystem services of saffron field such as O2 production, food, biodiversity and cultural services were estimated to be 54. 21×106, 266. 84×106, 60. 24×106, 29. 6×106 and 10. 58×106 Rls ha-1. y-1, respectively. The shares of these services were up to 39, 35, 19 and 7 percent of total value, respectively. The ranges of environmental externalities such as greenhouse gas emission and N and P leakage were estimated to be-18. 54×106 to-8. 18×106 and-5. 18×106 to-4. 07×106 Rls ha-1. y-1. The mean value of the total agroecosystem services of saffron fields excluding externalities, were estimated to be 136. 57×106 Rls ha-1 y-1.

Saffron, a valuable agricultural product in the national and international level is valued by consumers in different ways and the price paid for it depends on different factors. Identifying these factors can be helpful to marketing saffron with the price that is consistent with consumer preferences. The major aim of this study is to evaluate the factors that affect the price of saffron in Mashhad using the Hedonic pricing model. What distinguishes this study from previous studies is using the sensitivity analysis approach in the context of artificial neural networks. The information needed for this research was collected from 120 saffron buyers in the city of Mashhad with the random sampling approach. Considering the 14 explanatory variables, the results showed that age and brand have the least impact on the price of saffron, while the consumption goals variable has a significant effect on the price of this product. Among the goals, nutritional uses has a positive effect, and medical and industrial uses have a negative effect on the price of saffron. According to the research findings, manufacturers and suppliers of saffron are recommended to price the product according to the buyers’ consumption goals, sale style and the saffron type, respectively.

Climate change has serious impacts on communities and livelihoods in dry areas. The agricultural sector accepts the greatest impact from climate change due to its extensive interactions with the environment. Environmental degradation and reduced yield of saffron and weakening of the household economy are among the consequences of climate change in the Kashmar plain. This study was carried out in order to evaluate the perception of saffron in the Kashmar plain from climate change and its capacity to adapt to this phenomenon. The present study was conducted to examine the perceptions and adaptation of saffron to climate change in order to expand the strategies for confronting the climate change challenges in the Kashmar plain. The method of this study is descriptive-analytic. The population of the study was calculated using Cochran's sampling method and a sample size of 390 households was chosen. Statistical models such as logistic regression were used to examine saffron perception and compatibility strategies. The analysis of saffron perceptions of climate change shows that the increase in temperature and the decrease in rainfall during the last decade in the Kashmar plain has been ongoing. The results of the logistic statistical model indicated that product diversity, change in crops, finding a job outside the farm, changing the amount of land, changing the planting date of saffron were adaptation methods used in the region. Given that many saffron growers have come to understand climate change and adjust their farming activities based on these changes, the government should facilitate the adaptation of saffron to climate change.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L. ) is the most important plant in the world that has been used in cooking, confectionery and drug productions because of the color and aromatic substances in its sigma. Corm rot disease is one of the most important diseases in Iran. For identification of causal agents, wild saffron plants with wilt symptoms and rot lesions on corm were randomly collected in different regions of Ivan and Mehran in the Ilam province. Diseased samples were surface sterilized by dipping into domestic bleach solution (5% NaOCl). Then they were washed three times with sterile distilled water, dried with sterile filter paper and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Samples were incubated for three days in an incubator at 20° C. A total of eight Fusarium isolates were obtained and purified using the single spore method. Fusarium oxysporium isolates were identified according to their morphological and microscopic characteristics as described by the identification key. The pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporium isolates were artificially tested in the greenhouse on a wild susceptible cultivar according to Koch’ s principles.