The role of different irrigation periods on corm weight, forage content and number and yield of saffron flowers in warm and dry climates

Saffron is a valuable and highly economical plant that will reduce its yield if not harvested in a timely manner. The research was conducted because of lack of sufficient manpower at harvest time, differences in weather conditions and price fluctuations at the time of purchase of the product. Irrigation treatments were irrigation on the conventional time (15 days before harvest), T1, irrigation with 15 days delayed T2 and irrigation delayed by 30 days. In the mean study, the yield and forage content were statistically significant at 5% probability level, but no significant differences were observed between the number of flowers and corm weight. The highest and lowest values for yield and number of flowers were observed in T3 and control treatments, respectively. The highest fresh weight and fresh fodder for T2 treatment with 7.6 grams and 88.3 g / m2 were obtained according to the results. The results showed that analysis of variance of yield and forage yield at 5% probability level (P <0.05) were statistically significant. There were no significant differences between the number of flowers per square meter and the weight of the bunches. In general, it can be stated that irrigation treatment with 30 days delay increases the yield of saffron.