Effect of Plant Density and Weight of Corm on Yield and Yield Components of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) under Soil, Hydroponic and Plastic Tunnel Cultivation

Saffron is the most precious spice crop in the world which nowadays has nutritional, medical and industrial importance. Its average yield is 4.83 kg/ha in Iran. The research was conducted to investigate the effect of weight and corm density on yield and yield components of saffron under soil, hydroponic and plastic tunnel conditions. The effect of three different weights of corm (6-8, 8-10 and more than 10 g) and also three different densities of corm (50, 100 and 150 corms per m(2)) was investigated in factorial experiment based on CRD with three replications. The traits which were investigated included: number of flower, fresh weight of flower, fresh and dry weight of stigma and style, biomass and economic yield. The results showed that the main effects of cultivation systems, weight and corm density were significant in all traits. The heavier corms (more than 10 g) provided the highest yield. By decreasing corm weight, all traits were reduced significantly. Also the result showed that increase in yield (dry weight of stigma) was obtained under soil cultivation and in the density of 150 corms/m(2) equivalent to 7.38 kg/ha economical saffron.