Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Mohammad Hossein Aminifard ¹
• *, Ali *, Ali Khaksari Moghadam ²
• Hassan Hassan Bayat ³
• Hamid Reza Fallahi ⁴

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Horticultural Science and the Research Center for Special Plants of the Region, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Iran.

² M.Sc. Student in Medicinal Plants, Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Iran.

³ Associate Professor, Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Iran.

⁴ Associate Professor, Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Agricultural saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a monocotyledonous plant, a geophyte, and belongs to the Iridaceae family. Consumption of appropriate amounts of organic inputs has positive effects on the vegetative characteristics of saffron, which is attributed to the better allocation of food elements to its organs. Animal manures do not have one-sided effects, but on the one hand, they help to provide food and on the other hand, they improve the structure of the soil. Therefore, the use of organic fertilizers to increase or at least maintain soil fertility and increase yield is inevitable. The use of elemental sulfur is also used as an acidifying agent to increase the ability to absorb nutrients in calcareous soils. Based on this, due to the reasonable price and availability of sulfur, as well as calcareousness and low organic matter in most of the soils of the country, this research was conducted to investigate the effect of sulfur and sheep manure on vegetative growth and yield of saffron in Sarayan region.
 
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sheep manure and sulfur on vegetative growth and yield of saffron during 2018-2019 in the Sarayan region in a factorial manner and a randomized complete block design with three replications. Experimental treatments included sheep manure at four levels (0, 20, 40, and 60 t. ha^-1) and sulfur at three levels (0, 200, and 400 kg. ha^-1). After plotting, sheep manure and sulfur were added to the respective plots in the amount mentioned in the treatments and mixed with the soil with a shovel and the plots were leveled again. Simultaneously with the beginning of flowering (late November 2018), the flowers of each plot were collected daily from the entire surface of the plots. The traits related to flowering, leaf growth, and then the indicators related to the growth status of the corms were measured.
Results and Discussion: The results showed a significant effect of sulfur (400 kg. ha^-1) in both years on fresh style weight, dry style weight, leaf length, leaf number, number of the corm, and the total weight of the corm. In addition, the results showed that the highest level of sheep manure (60 t.ha^-1) caused a significant increase in fresh style weight by 78.50 and 26.66%, dry style weight by 28.57 and 53.84%, fresh stigma yield by 9.32 and 5.16%, dry stigma yield by 11.00 and 4.76%, fresh stigma weight by 12.73 and 6.82%, dry stigma weight 11.11 and 11.11%, leaf length by 38.75 and 44.27%, fresh leaf weight by 84.00 and 123.25%, dry leaf weight by 84.61 and 88.38%, number of the corm by 49.24 and 24.29%, the total weight of the corm by 98.77 and 56.44%, and the mean weight of the original girl corms 22.97 and 60.42%, respectively, in both years compared to the control treatment. It should be noted that the use of animal manure alone at the highest level has increased the number of flowers by five percent, and the use of sulfur alone has increased the number of flowers by half a percent, and the use of both at the same time has increased the number of flowers by 13 percent. Effects of sheep manure (60 t. ha^-1) and sulfur (400 kg. ha^-1) treatments on fresh and dry stigma weight and dry leaf weight in the first year and number of flowers per square meter, fresh flower yield, fresh style length, fresh and dry stigma yield, fresh and dry leaf weight, and mean weight of the original girl corms had the highest increase in the second year. The results of mutual effects also show well for the wet and dry performance of the stigma that the highest yield was observed at the level of 400 kg per hectare of sulfur and 60 t. h^-1 of sheep manure, the amount of which is 4.65 and 1.14 grams per square meter, and the lowest amount was obtained in the control. The results show that each of the elements alone did not have a good effect considering the short time, but two types of fertilizers together have been able to have an acceptable effect in a short period.
 
Conclusion: The simultaneous use of decayed sheep manure with sulfur, both of which were used as a soil application, has shown significant effects on most of the vegetative, agronomic, and quantitative traits of saffron. Thus, it is recommended that farmers use sheep manure with sulfur to significantly increase the yield of the saffron plant. Sulfur, in addition to acidifying the target area, which leads to better absorption of elements, disinfects the soil, and prevents the spread of diseases and mites.

Keywords

• Chemical Fertilizer
• Coriander
• Organic Fertilizer
• Stigma