نشریه زراعت و فناوری زعفران
سال دهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 38، زمستان 1401)

Cow manure is one of the most commonly used fertilizers in saffron cultivation, but its main problem is the slow process of decomposition and the slow release of nutrients in the short term; leading to over use of chemical fertilizers by farmers. It is expected that with the introduction of nanotechnology in the field of agriculture, a suitable solution will be found to improve the absorption time of organic fertilizers. Cattle manure nanoparticles can reduce the decomposition time of cattle manure with higher specific surface area. Therefore, a split-plot design was carried out using two conventional methods of mulching and mixing with soil on the performance of saffron and soil characteristics to compare the performance of conventional chemical fertilizers and cow manure with nano cow manure.The main factor in seven levels (including nano cow manure in two amounts of five and 20 tons per hectare and in two forms of application of mulch and mixed with soil, normal cow manure in the amount of 20 tons per hectare and in two forms of mulch and mixed with soil and no use cow manure) and the sub-factor included NPK chemical fertilizer (at two levels of use and non-use). The results showed that by making cattle manure nanosized, its half-life in the soil decreased from about 36 weeks to 11 weeks. Nano cow manure treatment of 20 tons per hectare mixed with soil showed an increase in dry stigma yield by 43.7, 46 and 57%, respectively, compared to conventional cow manure treatments, chemical fertilizer treatments, and controls. The nano application of cow manure resulted in maintaining more moisture, less mechanical resistance in the soil, and more percentage of nutrients in the plant. In the comparison of the two methods of mulching and mixing, it was observed that in the mulching method, the amount of moisture is higher and the surface mechanical resistance is lower in the soil, and in the mixing method, the amount of nutrients in the leaves is higher. The results showed that in treatments with nano cow manure, the mixed method is preferable to mulch. By making cattle manure nano, using the mixed method instead of mulch and applying higher levels of cattle manure, was reduced the synergistic effect of chemical fertilizers in increasing yield. As in nano cow manure treatment (20 tons per hectare mixed with soil) was not observed significant yield increase due to the addition of chemical fertilizer. Also, nano cow manuew five ton per hectare treatments (mulch and mixture) showed a 22% yield increase compared to conventional cow manure treatments. It is possible to increase the yield by 22% by making cow manure nanosized, along with reducing the consumption of cow manure by 75% in the second year of saffron cultivation.

In order to study the effect of different chemical and organic mulch types on various soil characteristics and qualitative and quantitative yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Qaen region in during 2018-2019. The experimental treatments were application of various mulch types for weed control (no weed control, hand weeding, transparent polyethylene, black polyethylene, beeswax waste, residues of grape leaf, wheat straw, pomegranate leaf, pistachio leaf, barley straw and saffron corm dunnage). The results showed that all the treatments except black and transparent polyethylene significantly improved the potassium contents of soil compared to hand weeding treatment. Treatments of beeswax waste (0.083%), pistachio leaf (0.081%) and transparent polyethylene (0.080%) included the highest amount of soil nitrogen. The highest amount of carbon (0.838%) and soil organic matter (1.17%) was also observed in beeswax waste mulch treatment. This treatment also led to soil acidification compared to other treatments. Application of all the mulches except transparent polyethylene caused a significant increase in stigmas yield of saffron compared to non-weeding conditions. Beeswax waste and wheat straw had the highest stigma yield (4.89 and 4.32 kg ha-1), respectively; which these increased the stigma yield by 213% and 177% compared to the no weeding treatment. Black polyethylene, pomegranate leaf and grape leaf did not show a significant difference with hand weeding in terms of stigma yield of saffron. The highest amount of safranal, crocin and picrocrocin in saffron was obtained to the black polyethylene mulch treatment. In general, the results confirmed that the application of all the studied mulches with the exception of transparent polyethylene led to improving soil characteristics and saffron yield compared to no weed control treatment and are recommended to farmers.

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.

This research was conducted using questionnaires and the analysis of soil samples (the content of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) obtained from saffron fields of Torbat-Heydariyeh, Iran, during 2020-2021. In this research, saffron irrigation and nutrition management methods among three farmer groups (progressive farmers, skilled farmers and ordinary farmers) were investigated and compared with the recommendations of saffron researchers. The classification of farmers in the mentioned three classes was based on the stigma yield in relation to the field age. The results showed that most of the progressive and skilled farmers used the combined nutrition management method (organic fertilizer + chemical fertilizer with frequency of about 65%), while the single application of chemical fertilizer was the most common method among ordinary farmers (47.5%). The mean amount of organic manure application for ordinary, skilled and progressive farmers was 5.0, 6.3 and 10.7 ton ha-1year-1, respectively (less than the amount of 19.2 tons recommended by researchers) and the mean amount of nitrogen application was 49.5, 56.5 and 87 kg ha-1 (compared with 93.3 kg recommended by researchers). The application of phosphorus and particularly potassium was not a common practice among all three groups’ farmers. The average content of organic matter in the fields was 0.68%, nitrogen 0.041%, phosphorus 16.1ppm and potassium 292 ppm, which indicates the poverty of soils in terms of organic matter and to some extent nitrogen. The foliar application of nutrients for the fields of ordinary, skilled and progressive farmers was 0.23, 0.65 and 1.00 times per year, respectively, and the average irrigation times was 3.2, 3.6, and 4.6 times per year, respectively, which is less than the recommended values by experts (2.55 and 5.8 times per year, respectively). Summer irrigation (44.4% of farmers) and sprinkle irrigation method (26.8% of farmers) were more common among progressive farmers. In general, the poverty of organic matter and lack of nitrogen in the soil, low foliar application of nutrients and lack of use of modern irrigation methods were among the most important reasons for the high gap yield of saffron fields.

Saffron with the scientific name (Crocus sativus L.) belongs to the Iridaceae family. This plant stigma is one of the most expensive spices in the world due to its rich apocarotenoids contents crocin (responsible for color), picrocrocin (bitter taste), and safranal (perfume). For quantitative analysis of these metabolites by Spectroscopy and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC UV-Vis) in Saffron stigma biphasic extract, in purpose the aim of introducing a suitable chemotype of this plant for cultivation in Ardabil province, this study was conducted in an experimental design of randomized complete blocks with three different replications. the data analysis of variance with GenStat ver. 12.1 showed that there were significant differences (P <0.01) between the studied areas based on the apocartenoids content, and the mean comparisons with the protected Fisher test showed that among the studied areas the chemotype of Onar village in Meshginshahr city Following the quantitative pattern of apocarotenoids, has a relative dominance in comparison with other regions, and on average, the amounts of crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal in the sample volume range are 0.15±0.1, 4.9±0.11 and 1±0.2 of dry matter was measured respectively. According to the obtained data, According to the obtained data, it can be inferred that this region of Ardabil province compared to other regions of this province has the necessary potential to produce this product with high quality.

Among the risks that threaten banks and financial institutions, credit risk is the most important risk due to its centrality, volume of operation and especially its sensitivity. Due to the lack of proper transportation equipment and communication infrastructure and the need to manager water resources and initial capital for advertising and packaging, a major part of Saffron producers in the northeast of the country and especially Zaveh city in Khorasan Razavi province, use banking facilities to provide floating capital. However, for reasons that cause agricultural risk, part of the facilities granted to them is not returned every year and causes the risk of non-repayment for the bank. Accordingly, the aim of this research is to measure the credit risk of facilities granted to Saffron producers in Zaveh city. Examined information is related to 16.000 real customers from three branches of Keshavarzi bank located in Zaveh city from the beginning of 2017 to the end of 2019, which has been analyzed using the Logit model. According to the results, it can be said that specialization of loans in the agricultural sector, payment to technical and trained people and non-renewal of these facilities on time, along with better follow-up and supervision can improve credit risk efficiency. Also, due to the greater impact of financial characteristics than personal characteristics in customer default, getting closer to Islamic banking in which the bank is the partner of facilities in economic activities and the individual's contribution is considered as a guarantee, may better cover credit risks while freeing the core collateral to select better customers.