نشریه پژوهش های زعفران
سال نهم شماره 1 (بهار و تابستان 1400)

The effects of applications of gibberellic acid hormone (GA) and mother weight corm on antioxidant activities and components of saffron were evaluated under field conditions. Treatments were tow levels of gibberellic acid (0 and 20 ppm) and three mother corm weights (0.1- 4, 4.1- 8 and 8.1- 12 g).The experiment was designed as factorial arrangement based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Research station of Faculty of Agriculture University of Birjand during growing season of 2016-2017.Traits including antioxidant activity, anthocyanins, phenols, crocin, picrocrocin and safranal of saffron. The results indicated that treatments had significant effect on antioxidant activity of stigma and petals. The highest antioxidant activity (39.5%) was found in gibberellic acid, but corm weight had no effect on this trait. Also, the highest anthocyanins (Stigma and Petal) was recorded from corm weight 8.1-12 g (1.31 and 0.96 mg / 100 g dry weight) and the lowest was obtained from corm weight 0.1-4 g (1.039 and 0.679 mg/100 g dry weight, respectively). Although, gibberellic acid treatment had no effect on the anthocyanins of petal. Total phenol increased with the use of gibberellic acid, the highest phenol (0.627 mg /100 g dry weight) was obtained from corm weight 8.1-12 g and the lowest was obtained from corms weight 0.1-4 g. The highest levels of safranal (32.56 %) and picrocrin (58.19%) were observed from gibberellic acid treatment. Also, the interaction between gibberellic acid and corm weight was significant on crocin content .The highest crocin (152.6%) was obtained from corm weight of 8.1-12 g and gibberellic acid. The beneficial effects of the use of gibberellic acid and high corm weight on the improvement of biochemical traits and effective saffron substances

Proper management of fertilizer is one of the necessary means in order have a stable and lucrative agro-ecological system in saffron. Therefore this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of different fertilizer sources on quantitative and qualitative yield of saffron as one of the most favored plants as split plots in randomized complete block design with three replication during two growing years of 2015- 2016 and 2016 -2017. Experimental treatments consisted of three levels of organic fertilizer: manure, vermicompost and control in the main plots, combination of chemical fertilizer of nitrogen and phosphorus (NP) which was used in two levels of 50 and 100% of fertilizer recommendation in sub plots. Five levels of growth-promoting bacteria including non-insemination (control), inoculation with Azotobacter PTCC 1658 (Azotobacter chorococum), Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Bacillus subtilis and the combination of growth-promoting bacteria (Azotobacter chorococum + Pseudomonas aeroginosa + Bacillus subtilis) in sub-sub plots. The results showed that the combined application of growth-promoting bacteria significantly increased the number of flower by 92% and the yield components of stigma and style by 77%, compared to the control. Also, the use of growth-promoting bacteria in combination with organic fertilizers had the most significant effect on stigma length. Also, the result of Mean comparison showed that, the treatment of 100% of chemical fertilizer had the highest sitigma length (3.67 cm) with a significant difference compared to the treatment of 50% of chemical fertilizer requirement (3.45 cm). The use of organic fertilizers along with the combination of bacteria had the greatest effect on the percentage of crocin. The findings of this study showed that the combined application of growth-promoting bacteria with organic fertilizers had the highest dry yield of stigma and style, with 2.82 kg / ha.

Saffron is a sterile triploid plant which is propagated by a daughter corms from the mother corm, thus improving its agronomic characteristics has been limited using conventional plant breeding. Tissue culture technology is a useful tool to improve crop characteristics. The purpose of this research is to find the appropriate protocol for the induction of callus in parts of saffron corms. A factorial experiment was carried out with plant growth regulators 2,4-D and BAP, at three levels (1, 2 and 3 mg/L) each, with 5 replications in a completely randomized design. The control samples had no any kind of growth regulator. These results indicate that MS culture medium supplemented with 2 mg/L 2,4-D and 2 mg/L BAP was the best culture medium for callus growth and formation. The purpose of this study was to achieve a suitable protocol for inducing embryogenic callus and indirect regeneration in saffron. To achieve this, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications using two growth regulators of 2,4-D, 0.5 mg/L, and BAP at three levels of 3, 4 and 5 mg/L. Observations showed that there were no significant differences between treatments. Then, these calluses were sub-cultured into two different levels of MS medium (half-strength MS and complete MS) without ABA with 3% and 6% sucrose, and with 1 mg/L ABA. The factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 6 replications to examine embryo development. The results showed that the best medium for embryo development was complete MS medium containing 1 mg/L ABA. Finally, in order to growth and differentiation, these calluses were transferred to a MS medium with 6% sucrose. The observations indicated that calluses in full MS medium containing 1 mg/L ABA, showed the best reaction to regeneration.

Saffron is considered a strategic plant whose quantitative and qualitative value can be important on the agricultural economy of water-scarce areas. For this purpose, a randomized complete block design study was conducted with two factors of type of irrigation source (well water W1 and wastewater of urban W2) and irrigation time (regional custom or 15 mehr (October)T1, 15 days T2 delay and 30 days T3 delay). The results of the average squares showed that quantitative traits (number of flowers, fresh flower weight, dry weight of stigma, dry weight of cream and large flower index) of saffron in irrigation time factor, type of irrigation source and the interaction of two factors without significant relationship and results of average squares of traits Qualitative (pyroxine, crocin, saffron, moisture, mold and total microorganism) Saffron had no significant relationship in irrigation time factor and irrigation time contrast in irrigation type, but moisture and total microorganism traits in significant type of irrigation source at the level of 1% were significant. Were. The results showed that the highest value for quantitative traits was the number of flowers and the dry weight of stigmas for W1T1 treatment with 51 flowers per square meter and 0.79 g / m2, respectively. Also, for the qualitative traits of crocin, safranal and microorganisms, the total W2T3 treatment with values of 261 and 32.6 (maximum absorption) and 203333 units per gram, respectively, was the highest value among the research treatments.

Nowadays, modern crop cultivation like saffron is very important for increasing the productivity of soil and water resources under drought conditions and leaving the single-product economy and achieving sustainable economic development in susceptible areas. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possibility of cultivation of this plant from the attitude of farmers in villages of Arsanjan County. The survey method was used in this study. The statistical population has consisted of all farmers in the villages of Arsanjan in the 2018-2019 crop year. One hundred and fifteen samples were selected and studied by simple random sampling with the proportional assignment. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire that the face and content validity was assessed by university professors and the reliability of its components achieved by a pilot study with Cronbach's alpha in the range of 0.5 to 0.8. The results of the t-test showed that saffron cultivation was possible with respect to the average value of the variables of farmer attitude (3.83) and the characteristics of crop innovation including comparative advantage (3.37), testability (3.20), adaptability (3.42) and visibility (3.14) in the area. Also, by cluster analysis, the studied farmers were divided into three groups: Poor Positive, Poor Moderate, and Poor Negative attitude regarding saffron cultivation. Fifty percent of farmers, who stay on the category of poor negative attitude, believed that there was an impossible condition about saffron cultivation with regard to their economic, social characteristics and their view of innovation. Finally, according to the results, suggestions were presented to facilitate the saffron cultivation in the area.

Recognition of climate and studying the ecological and physiological requirements of crops and medicinal plants are among the most important factors involving in agricultural production. As the most expensive agricultural and medicinal product in the world, saffron plays an important role in producing edible and medicinal products. Therefore, identifying the climatically capable areas for saffron cultivation according to its thermal and moisture requirements, may lead to better performance in the cultivated areas. The purpose of this study is to identify potential climatic capabilities and determine their adaptation with ecological requirements of saffron in Hamedan province. For that reason, climatic parameters such as: annual rainfall, minimum temperature during the growth cycle, average temperature, sunshine hours, freezing period, extracted from the climate database in 20 years period (1996 to 2015) and environmental parameters such as: type of soil, from the soil layer of Hamedan province extracted from Jahad Keshavarzi organization of Hamedan, slope and sea level of the area extracted from layer of 1:25000 Hamedan province topographic maps from Iran mapping organization. In this study, the effects of climatic and environmental factors mentioned above on the climatic zoning of saffron were investigated individually and in groups (overlapping information layers) using GIS and Arc Map software in a climatic spatial model using weighted overlay model and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Results of the study showed that , in terms of saffron cultivation capabilities, Hamedan Province is nearly 35% suitable, and 72.25% of its area is capable of saffron cultivation and this is limited to the southern and eastern cities of the province, including: Malayer, Nahavand, Tuiserkan, Asad abad and the eastern areas of Hamedan and Ghahavand.

In this study, the effects of agronomic management such as crop residue corm density and planting depth on flower and daughter corm criteria and quality of saffron under on-farm conditions at the Organic Field, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during two growing seasons of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 were evaluated as strip plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments were crop residue (0 and 6 tons of wheat straw per ha), corm density (10, 20 and 30 t.ha-1) and planting depth (8 and 15 cm). Studied criteria were flower numbers per area, fresh flower yield, dried stigma yield, total weight of daughter corms, total number of daughter corms, daughter corm diameter, mean weight of daughter corm and quality (picrocrocin, safranal and crocin). Results showed that the simple effects of crop residue, corm density and planting depth were significant on flower yield, growth and daughter corm yield of saffron in the second year (p≤0.05). The simple and interaction effects of these factors were not significant on quality. Crop residue application were enhanced the flower number, dried weight of stigma, dried weight of daughter corms and number of daughter corms per m2 up to 15, 18, 15 and 3 percent compared with control, respectively. The highest flower number, dried weight of stigma, dried weight of daughter corms and number of daughter corms were observed with 20 ton corms per ha with 326.41 flowers.m-2, 410.18 mg.m-2, 1042.66 g.m-2 and 140.17 daughter corms.m-2, respectively. Increasing planting depth from 8 to 15 cm improved flower number, dried weight of stigma, dried weight of daughter corms and number of daughter corms per m2 up to 11, 15, 45 and 2 percent compared with control, respectively.

In order to investigate the diversity of irradiated genotypes at two levels of 15 and 18 Gy gamma ray with control genotype (without radiation), an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design in the greenhouse of Yazd University. The results of analysis of variance showed that the first generation mutants and control genotype were significantly different in terms of eight morphological characteristics and total carotenoid content. While there was no significant difference among them based on the number of stems, number of flowers as well as chlorophyll and leaf proline content. Based on the results of cluster analysis, the studied genotypes were divided into two groups and the accuracy of grouping based on the detection function was 93%. The first group consisted of 24 18-Gy mutants and a control genotype. All of 15 Gy mutants, 6 mutants of 18 Gy and 10 control genotypes were in the second group. Based on the graphical representation of biplot analysis method, 7 mutants at 18 Gy dose and 5 mutants in 15 Gy radiation dose were located in polygonal vertices, which showed the greatest difference between them and genotype without radiation. Accordingly, traits related to plant yield and reproductive growth had the greatest effect in determining superior mutations. According to the aim of this study, 15 Gy dose of gamma radiation resulted in mutations with better performance and 18 Gy dose caused more morpho-physiological diversity in saffron stems.

In recent decades, climate change has led to authorities turn to drought-resistant crops with low water needs, such as saffron. Although the growth of saffron in Kermanshah has a long history and special potential, but its cultivation in Kermanshah has not been developed and its educational needs have not been identified. Therefore, identifying and prioritize the educational needs of saffron farmers in Kermanshah is important. In this research which was conducted using Mix method design (qualitative-quantitative) and descriptive-analytical method, the educational needs of saffron farmers were identified and prioritized, samples selected purposefully. Data collect through Telephone interview (31 people). The results of this evaluation showed that the “planting” and “post-harvest” stage need strengthening; and before planting, holding, and harvesting stages do not require training. The implication of this study can help the authorities of Kermanshah province in identifying the educational needs of saffron growers so that they can develop the area under cultivation of this valuable product.

Saffron is one of the most important export products of Iran. Due to the importance of climate in its cultivation, few countries have mass-produced saffron, making Iran the biggest producer and exporter of saffron in the world. However, it is necessary to examine the virtual land trade for purposeful policies and intelligent farm management. Therefore, the export of virtual land of this product has been studied in 2002-2007, and the factors affecting it have been determined using the gravity model. The results show that the average export of virtual land in Iran in the mentioned time period was about 41.5 thousand hectares. The highest amount of virtual land exports with 116.6 thousand hectares was obtained in 2008, and the lowest export of virtual land With 19.2 thousand hectares was obtained in 2007, probably because of the high yield of saffron production and low saffron exports. European and Asian countries are the most important destinations of Iran's virtual land, respectively, based on the results of the gravity model, countries that have relatively less agricultural land compared to Iran, and also countries with higher incomes and populations have more demand for saffron imports, which results in more exports of virtual land. Based on the results, it is suggested that policies be undertaken in order to improve productivity of saffron production and reduce the export of virtual land to importing countries with emphasis on maintaining the quality of saffron and paying attention to regional production capacities.

Saffron as a valuable medicinal plant has a great importance in Iran. The global tendency of consumers toward sustainable products has led to produce saffron with organic, natural and safe labels. Developing of saffron production with organic, natural and safe labels requires the recognition of consumers’ awareness and their behavior (preferences) towards these labels. Therefore, this study tries to study the factors affecting the consumers’ preferences for saffron with the mentioned labels by clustering consumers based on awareness indicators about these labels. For this purpose, K-mean clustering algorithm and Ordered Logit model and the data collected through interviews with 144 visitors of Mashhad exhibition of safe and organic products in 2019 were used. The results revealed that the consumers could be classified into two clusters of aware and unaware regarding labels of organic, natural and safe based on the four indicator related to awarness. The Ordered Logit model estimates showed that the increase in education level, monthly household income and positive attitude to nutritional value of labeled saffron will increase the probability of placing consumers in the group with the preference of consuming organic labeled saffron compared to the two groups preferring to consume saffron with organic label in both clusters. According to the findings, it is suggested that in the regions where families with higher incomes live, the supply of organic saffron, and the number of stores supplying organic products in general will be increased.

Saffron as one of the profitable export products faces many challenges in different stages of production, processing, and marketing. This study was aimed to investigate the challenges of saffron production from saffron-growers in Mashhad county. The statistical population of this study included all saffron producers in the city, 192 of whom were studied by convenience sampling. A questionnaire was used for data collection that its validity and reliability were assessed using a panel of experts and Cronbach's alpha coefficient, respectively. A hierarchical component model using the partial least squares method was used for data analysis. The results indicated that the most important challenge of saffron production is in economic contexts that saffron price fluctuation can be mentioned as the most important aspect in this context. Also, political and technical challenges were identified as other important challenges in this area. It should be noted that supportive challenges did not play a significant role in the set of considered challenges. Considering e-commerce platforms is suggested as one of the ways to reduce these challenges.