The Effect of Strengthening Various Types of Moisture Absorbents With Plant Hormones and Food Supplements on the Growth and Performance of Saffron Plant

Farajzadeh Memari Tabrizi, Elnaz

doi:10.22077/jsr.2024.7742.1234

Document Type : Original Article

Author

elnaz farajzadeh memari tabrizi

Department of Agronomy, Malekan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Malekan, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22077/jsr.2024.7742.1234

Abstract

Introduction: Iran is considered a water-scarce country and a large part of its water resources evaporates. According to research, about 90% of the country's water is used in agriculture, of which more than 60% is wasted due to choosing wrong methods for irrigation and some other cases. This issue has caused the farmers to seriously face water shortage, increase in cost and decrease in the amount of cultivation. To prevent this problem, researchers have made polymers that can greatly reduce the occurrence of these problems. These polymers are called water absorbent powder. Super absorbents are compounds that can play a very effective role in water crises. On the other hand, due to the fact that absorbents are a place to store moisture in the soil, they can provide fertilizers and other inputs used in agriculture more effectively to plants.

Materials and Methods: This study is to investigate the effect of strengthening different types of moisture absorbents (no use of super absorbent, use of natural super absorbent and use of synthetic super absorbent) with different types of hormones (no use of hormone, use of auxin hormone and use of cytokine hormone), and whole foods (no use of fertilizer, use of chemical fertilizer and use of Nano fertilizer) were on the growth and quantitative and qualitative characteristics of saffron. The experiment was conducted in two crop years 1401 and 1402 as a randomized complete block design in three replications.

Results and Discussion: Based on the results of this study, the use of artificial and natural super absorbents, fertilizers and hormones led to an increase in flower production and stigma weight of saffron. The combination of these treatments, especially the combination of super absorbents with hormones and fertilizers, had a more positive effect on improving growth and product quality. In addition, the use of these treatments led to an increase in the content of chlorophyll and nutrients required by the plant, an increase in the percentage of safranal and antioxidant properties of the product, and an improvement in the amount of nutrients in saffron leaves. Also, it has been observed that the use of super absorbents and fertilizers along with hormones can significantly improve the amount of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and iron in saffron leaves. This increase in nutrients leads to the improvement of plant growth and development and finally leads to increase in production and improvement of product quality.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the use of moisture absorbents, especially artificial moisture absorbents reinforced with Nano fertilizer and cytokine hormone, can play a very effective role in reducing water consumption and improving the growth and production of saffron. In addition, the strengthening of absorbents with hormones and food can be a very effective achievement in increasing the production of plants, especially medicinal plants such as saffron in dry conditions.

The experiment was conducted in two crop years 2022 and 2023 as a randomized complete block design in three replications. Based on the results of this study, the use of synthetic and natural super absorbents, fertilizers and hormones led to an increase in flower production and stigma weight of saffron. The combination of these treatments, especially the combination of super absorbents with hormones and fertilizers, had a more positive effect on improving growth and product quality. In addition, the use of these treatments led to an increase in the content of chlorophyll and nutrients required by the plant, an increase in the percentage of safranol and antioxidant properties of the product, and an improvement in the amount of nutrients in saffron leaves. It has also been observed that the use of super absorbents and fertilizers along with hormones can significantly improve the amount of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and iron in saffron leaves. This increase in nutrients leads to the improvement of plant growth and development and finally leads to increase in production and improvement of product quality.

Keywords

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