Effect of cow manure on yield and morphological and physiological characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) under salinity stress

In order to study the effects of salinity stress of irrigation water and different amounts of cow manure on morphological and physiological characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was conducted during 2015-16 in the Jalagh Rokh Torbat Heidarieh area. The treatments were consisted of four levels of irrigation water salinity as the main factor (1, 4, 7 and 10 dS.m-1) and cow manure (sub factor) in four levels including control (without fertilizer), 20, 40 and 60 (t.ha-1) that were split plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The studied traits included fresh weight and numbers of flowers, fresh and dry weights of stigma, leaf chlorophyll content, proline content, diameter, fresh and dry weights of corm. The results of analysis of variance showed that the effects of different amounts of cow manure and salinity stress levels on all traits were significant at 1% level. In this experiment, the highest fresh weight and numbers of flowers, fresh and dry weight of the stigma were obtained in the control salinity treatment (without salinity) and 60 (t.ha-1) of cow manure. With increasing salinity levels up to 7 dS.m-1, chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll increased and then decreased sharply. The results showed a significant increase in proline with increasing salinity levels. In addition, diameter and fresh and dry weights of the corms decreased with increasing salinity levels, so that their maximum and minimum values ​​were obtained in salinity control (without salinity) and 10 dS.m-1 respectively. The results showed that the use of cow manure reduces the effects of salinity stress on corm yield and yield of saffron flower.