Investigating the Effect of Cutting Times and Edaphic Factors on Resin Yield of Ferula pseudalliacea Plant in Desert Rangelands of Yazd Province

      Plant species have different ecotypes. Identification of ecotypes with more yield operation can be useful and commercially profitable. This is the first study to investigate resin yield amount of Ferula pseudalliacea and edaphic conditions of its habitats in desert rangelands of Yazd province. For this purpose, in each region, 20 plants of the same age (5-6 years) were completely randomly selected and used according to the conventional method. Soil sampling was carried out at a depth of 0-30 cm. All data were analyzed using SPSS16 and Excel software. The results showed that bitter asafetida plants had significantly more resin yield in 7, 8, 11 (P<0.05), 9 and 10 cutting times (P<0.01) but less yield in 3 and 13 times in Chenarnaz habitat (P<0.05). The total amount of resin with 63.63 g showed a significant increase in Chenarnaz compared to Borooieh region (60.14) (P<0.01). The most amount of resin yield was observed in 9 and 10 incisions in both habitats. Totally, it is recommended to harvest bitter asafetida during ten cutting times in Yazd province rangelands for sustainable exploitation. Comparison of soil parameters showed that the sand percentage in Borooieh region and the percentages of moisture, silt, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in Chenarnaz region were significantly higher (P<0.01). Increasing soil moisture storage, organic matter and essential elements of the plant caused resin yield improvement of asafetida in Chenarnaz region. In this study, acidity had a significant increase in Chenarnaz habitat, which is an effective factor in the growth and production rate of asafetida. Chenarnaz region had numerically more lime and better operation of resin yield. According to the results, bitter asafetida plants of Chenarnaz region had better resin yield operation.