Identification and Prioritization of the Appropriate Technologies for Saffron Corm Sorting Based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Saffron is one of the most valuable spices and medicinal plants with a great economic value. Saffron corms sorting based on the size is one of the most important production processes which is effective on the crop yield. This research was conducted during 2019 and 2020 with the aim of identification and prioritization of the appropriate technologies in Iran for sorting the saffron corms.The information and technical specifications of the sorters were collected and checked.Appropriate technologies were identified through survey and specialized visits.Comparison criteria were also determined.The options belonged to three companies: ‘Nardis’,‘Red Gold of Iranian Golshid’ and ‘Seifi Industrial Group’.The criteria included ‘Capacity’,‘Accuracy’,‘Ease of use’,‘Portability’,‘Number of categories’,‘Sorted corms quality’, ‘Multitasking’,‘Losses’,‘Number of operators’,‘Price’,‘Power’ and ‘Maintenance cost’.To prioritize the options and select the most appropriate technology, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and weighting of the criteria and options were used in Expert Choice software.The criteria were given value based on the opinions of 20 experts with completing the questionnaire.Results indicated that ‘Losses’ and ‘Sorted corms quality’ were the most effective criteria with relative weights of 0.14 and 0.135, respectively.Moreover, ‘Portability’ was the least effective criteria to select the appropriate technology for saffron corms sorting with relative weight of 0.045 (Inconsistency=0.01).Performance sensitivity analysis showed that ‘Nardis’ sorter is preferable to the other two sorters in terms of ‘Number of operators’,‘Price’ and ‘Power’.Moreover, ‘Red Gold of Iranian Golshid’ sorter is preferable to the other two sorters in terms of ‘Capacity’ and ‘Multitasking’. ‘Seifi Industrial Group’ sorter is superior to the other two sorters in terms of ‘Accuracy’,‘Ease of use’,‘Portability’,‘Number of categories’,‘Losses’ and ‘Maintenance cost’.Based on synthesis results, ‘Seifi Industrial Group’ sorter based on divergent rollers technique was introduced as the most appropriate technology for saffron corm sorting.