نشریه پژوهش های زعفران
سال یازدهم شماره 1 (بهار و تابستان 1402)

More specifically, the excessive use of inorganic fertilizers has reduced yield and nutrients efficiency of use and intensified nutrient losses in agroecosystems. Optimization is a modelling techniques approach to improve nutrient efficiency of use and mitigate environmental losses. Response surface methodology (RSM) is a statistical technique which is widely used in engineering and scientific disciplines to optimize processes and improve product quality. George Box and his colleagues developed response surface methodology (RSM) during the 1950s. The combination of experimental design, modeling techniques, and optimization methods in response surface methodology (RSM) provides a robust approach that leverages experimental data to achieve process improvements. The experimental design phase of RSM involves planning and conducting experiments to generate data that can be used to build a mathematical model of the relationship between the process parameters and the response variable(s) of interest. In this study, the optimization of cow manure and sulfate potassium fertilizers as two effective fertilizers in saffron production on yield, yield components of flower and corms of saffron was evaluated by using RSM. 

An experiment was conducted with 13 treatments and two replications at the Agricultural Research Field, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, during two growing seasons of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. The treatments were allocated based on low and high levels of cow manure (0 and 100 t. ha-1, respectively) and sulfate potassium (0 and 400 kg per ha, respectively). Flower yield indicators (such as fresh weight of flower, flower numbers and dried weight of stigma per unit) and daughter corm criteria (including daughter corm numbers per unit, dried weight of daughter corms per unit and daughter corm diameter) in the second year of experiment were computed as dependent variables and changes of these variables were evaluated by a regression model. The adequacy of the model was judged using analysis of variance, lack-of-fit test, determination coefficient (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE). Finally, the optimum levels of cow manure and potassium sulfate were calculated based on economic scenario for dependent variables such as stigma yield, daughter corm yield and daughter corm diameter and desirability index (D). 

The experimental results revealed that the effect of linear component was significant on flower numbers, fresh weight of flower and daughter corm diameter. Effect of square component was significant on flower numbers and fresh weight of flowers. Interaction effect of full quadratic component was significant on dried weight of daughter corms. Lack-of-fit test had no significant effect on the studied traits that represent the full square model was satisfactorily explained. The maximum observed values for fresh weight of flower and flower numbers were recorded for 100 t cow manure per ha+ without any potassium sulfate consumption with 15.15 g. m-2 and 33 flowers. m-2, respectively. The highest dried weight of daughter corms was observed in 100 t cow manure per ha+ 400 kg potassium sulfate per ha with 314.28 g. m-2. The estimated optimization rates for manure and potassium sulfate were 80.50 t. ha-1 and 371.71 kg. ha-1 (with D= 0.98), respectively. 

RSM is defined as a collection of statistical techniques that are used to optimize production inputs. RSM involves the design and analysis of experiments, modeling techniques, and optimization methods to find the optimal combination of process parameters that will yield the highest quality product or process output. The optimization phase involves using the mathematical model to identify the optimal process parameters that will yield the desired response variable(s). One of the key advantages of RSM is that it enables engineers and scientists to optimize complex processes with multiple input variables. RSM can also help reduce the number of experiments required to optimize a process, which can save time and resources. Additionally, RSM can help identify the interactions between different process parameters, which is useful for gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying process and for making further process improvements. Results demonstrate that for each response, different parameters and interactions were important. Therefore, to optimize parameters (such as cow manure and sulfate potassium), corm yield and stigma yield should be considered simultaneously. In general, it seems that optimization of resource use based on response-surface methodology may be suitable cropping approach for sustainable production, yield improvement and mitigation of environmental pollution in saffron cultivation.

Municipal waste compost is effective on increasing plant yield. Due to the lack of organic matter in the soils of arid and semi-arid regions, the use of organic compounds such as municipal waste compost improves the physical and chemical properties and increases the fertility of the soil (Khoshgoftarmanesh & Kalbasi, 2002). The use of municipal waste compost due to the presence of nutrients in its composition and their gradual release, which prevents the leaching and stabilization of these elements in the soil, leads to the improvement of the availability of elements for plants and direct and indirect effects on yield (Ghasraldashti et al., 2014). Therefore, the purpose of this project is to study the effect of different levels of municipal waste compost on the absorption of heavy metals in the soil and saffron plant, as well as its relationship with the flower and stigma performance of this valuable medicinal plant. 

Municipal waste compost must be used more carefully. Therefore, the effects of the application of municipal waste compost on the uptake of heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Cd, and Co) in saffron plants and their relation with arable characteristics and yield of saffron were evaluated under field conditions. Treatments were four levels of municipal waste compost (0, 5, 10, and 20 t. ha-1). Before planting, different amounts of municipal waste compost were mixed with the soil to a depth of 20 cm according to the experimental plan. The first irrigation was carried out at the same time as planting (7 September 2015 as a flood), and the second irrigation was done ten days after the first irrigation to facilitate the sprouting of the tubers. Subsequent irrigations after the end of the flowering period were carried out according to the region's custom at intervals of one month and in the leakage method using a siphon. This experiment was carried out based on a randomized completely block design with three replications in the research farm of the University of Birjand, Iran, during the cropping year 2015-2016. 

Results showed that municipal waste compost improved the concentration of soil Pb and Cd of saffron beside control. But, municipal waste compost has not affected significantly soil Ni and Co. The highest concentration of soil Pb and Cd (2.85 and 1.60 mg.kg-1) were obtained in plants treated with 20 t. ha-1 municipal waste compost while the lowest values were recorded in the control. Results showed that municipal waste compost improved the Pb concentration of saffron leaf besides control. The highest concentration of leaf Pb (0.68 mg.kg-1) was obtained in plants treated with 10 t. ha-1 municipal waste compost. Results showed that municipal waste compost did not significantly affect the heavy metals concentration of saffron corm and flower. The average weight of cormel, flower, and stigma yield was influenced by municipal waste compost treatments. In a study by Gholizadeh et al., (2018), by investigation the effect of municipal waste compost levels and maternal corm weight on vegetative and reproductive traits and photosynthetic indices of saffron plants, they found that the highest average fresh weight of flowers was obtained from the treatment of 20 t. ha-1 of urban waste compost with 5.06 g. m-2. Similarly, other researchers have also reported the positive effect of municipal waste compost on the yield of dry saffron stigma (Amiri, 2008). It seems that the use of municipal waste compost has increased flower yield and as a result stigma yield due to its positive effects on improving physical and chemical properties and increasing soil fertility as well as increasing the availability of nutrients by plants (Khoshgoftarmanesh & Kalbasi, 2002; Ghasraldashti et al., 2014). Therefore, considering the effect of organic treatments on the stabilization of heavy metals in the soil and reducing their absorption by plants, the use of organic materials can be a useful solution in controlling the concentration of pollutants (Karimi et al., 2012). 

Based on the results of this research and according to the environmental and soil conditions of this experiment, it was determined that municipal waste compost had an effective role in increasing the corm weight and flower yield of saffron, and in this way, it was able to increase the stigma yield. Although the use of municipal waste compost in this research did not increase the concentration of heavy elements in soil and plants more than the permissible limit, due to the presence of heavy elements in municipal wastes, the necessary care should be taken in using this fertilizer in other areas so that, at the same time, using the benefits of municipal waste compost reduced the environmental risks caused by the use of compost for soil and plants.

Nutrition management in saffron cultivation is one of the important issues in the production of this valuable product. Studies have shown that the use of bio-fertilizers and nano-fertilizers can be effective in reducing the inhibitory effects of drought and salinity stress. Also nano-fertilizers have high consumption efficiency and can optimally release their nutrients at a suitable point in the root growth area. The tendency of saffron to grow in a dry climate has caused the cultivation of this plant to expand in the eastern lands of the country. Meanwhile, the lands in the east of the country often face drought and salinity problems due to low and scattered rainfall. Thus, present study was performed to investigate the effects of salinity levels, bio-fertilizer and nano-fertilizer of Fe on yield and physiological characteristics of saffron. 

Present study was performed in a farm that located in Torbat Heydarieh city, in 2018-2019. The experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications and analyzed by combined analysis in location (salinity). Bio-fertilizer was applied at four levels of zero, 500, 1000 and 1500 kg ha-1 and nano particles of Fe was applied at two levels of non-used and application of four liters per hectare. These factors were investigated in two locations with different irrigation salinity (2.29 and 4.49 dS m-1). 

The results showed that there was the highest value for dry weight of stigma in irrigation conditions with salinity of 2.29 dS m-1. In this trait, under the conditions of irrigation with salinity of 2.29 dS m-1, there was no significant difference between the application and non-application levels of nano-fertilizer of Fe; However, in the conditions of irrigation with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1, the application of nano-fertilizer of Fe compared to non-application, caused a significant increase of 32.8% for dry weight of stigma. Comparison of mean for triple interaction showed that in irrigation conditions with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1 and in all levels of bio-fertilizer, the application of nano-fertilizer of Fe compared to control increased the amount of chlorophyll b and RWC, significantly. At both salinity levels of 2.29 and 4.49 dS m-1, by increasing amounts of bio-fertilizer, the amount of carotenoids significantly increased. Also, at both salinity levels of 2.29 and 4.49 dS m-1 and all levels of bio-fertilizer, the application of Fe nano-fertilizer significantly increased carotenoids compared to conditions of non-application. In irrigation conditions with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1 and at levels of zero and 500 kg ha-1 of bio-fertilizer, the application of Fe nano-fertilizer prevented increasing of proline, significantly and prevented the occurrence of more electrolyte leakage. 

In the present research, increasing the salinity from 2.29 to 4.49 dS m-1 caused a significant decrease in dry weight of saffron stigma. However, in the conditions of applying irrigation with a salinity of 4.49 dS m-1, the application of iron nano-fertilizer caused a significant increase in dry weight of stigma compared to its non-application. With increasing amounts of bio-fertilizer in both irrigation conditions, the amount of chlorophyll a also increased. In addition, in irrigation conditions with a salinity of 49.4 dS m-1 and at all levels of bio-fertilizer, the application of iron nano-fertilizer significantly increased the amount of chlorophyll b and RWC, compared to the conditions without its application. Also, in irrigation conditions with salinity of 4.49 dS m-1 and at the levels of zero and 500 kg ha-1 of bio-fertilizer, the application of iron nano-fertilizer significantly prevented the increase of proline and in the same conditions and at all levels of bio-fertilizer, it prevented to do more electrolytes leakage. Based on these results, in order to achieve higher yields in saffron cultivation, irrigation with less saline water is recommended and in case of irrigation with salinity of more than 4.2 dS m-1 in saffron cultivation, the use of iron and bio-fertilizers is recommended to improve the physiological characteristics.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a plant that propagates vegetatively by means of a corm formation. During each growing season, saffron propagates by daughter corms produced from the mother corm. The daughter corms are formed above the mother corm. The mature and bigger corms in the previous studies have shown more flowers and daughter corms. In sustainable agriculture the uptake of different nutrients such as N, P, S, Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe and crop yield is strongly influenced by organic fertilizers, microbial symbionts, such as mycorrhizal fungi, and nitrogen fixing rhizobacteria. Mycorrhiza is particularly important due to its ability to improve the uptake of inorganic P, by the activity of secreted phosphatases and organic compounds. Another advantage conferred by AMF is enhancing plant resistance to several biotic and abiotic stresses including drought, salinity, nutrient deficiency, and toxic metal deposition. Also, the application of organic fertilizer can improve soil fertility, reduce soil-borne diseases, and enhance microbial flora structure. Humic acid is a kind of organic matter produced and accumulated by animal and crop remains through decomposition and transformation of microorganisms with a series of geochemistry processes. This study aimed to investigate the impacts of mycorrhiza inoculation, mother corm weight and humic acid on the daughter corm and flower yield of saffron.  This field experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Agricultural Research Station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during the years 2019-2020. Treatments were three mother corm sizes ((such as <4 g (as small corms), 4.1-8 g (as medium corms) and 8.1-12 g (as large corms)), inoculation with three species of mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus etunicatum, G. mosseae and G. intraradices and triple combinations of these species fungi and control (without inoculation)), and two rates of humic acid (with and without humic acid (as control)). Studied traits were flower numbers per unit area, fresh weight of flower, dried weight of flower, fresh weight of stigma, dried weight of stigma, fresh weight of stamen, dried weight of stamen, number of daughter corms and dried weight of daughter corms.  The results showed that the highest rate of large mother corms (8.1-12 g) was observed in large corms + G. intraradices+humic acid with 109 g.m-2. Also, the maximum weight of medium daughter corms (4.1-8 g) was achieved in large mother corms + G. intraradices+ humic acid with 63 g.m-2. The highest numbers of daughter corms were related to triple combinations of mycorrhizal fungi+ large mother corms+ humic acid with 67 corms per m-2. The highest flower numbers (67 flowers per m-2), dried weight of stamen (2.79 g.m-2), dried weight of stamen (0.28 g.m-2), were recorded for triple combinations of mycorrhizal fungi+ large mother corms+ humic acid.  The results showed that the improvement of saffron management (such as selecting bigger and higher quality corm, fertilization, appropriate density, etc.) is the best way to increase the saffron yield. Humic acid recognized as a possible tool in facing environmental problems especially conventional management. Many of their positive effects on soil and plant growth have been demonstrated to rely on their chemical composition. Also, the effect of mycorrhiza symbiosis on a particular plant species meaning that not all AMF fungi nor strains of the same species will have an identical impact on a particular plant species. Therefore, mycorrhiza is of great importance to assure the presence of beneficial symbionts that are adapted to a given soil and climate or if inoculation is planned, to select the most effective partners. Generally, the results revealed that the large mother corms had high correlation with daughter corm yield, flower yield and stigma yield of saffron. Also, humic acid application and inoculation with mycorrhiza species were improved flower yield and daughter corm yield of saffron.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an herbaceous and perennial plant, which is at least 3500 years old and is known as a golden seasoning and red gold due to its many medicinal uses. About 90% of the world's saffron is grown in Iran. India, Afghanistan, Greece are in the next ranks. Despite the high value of this plant, a decrease in its yield has been reported in many countries. The average yield of saffron per unit area in Iran is far lower than many countries; therefore, with proper nutrition, the yield per unit area can be increased. Micronutrients have a special role in agricultural products despite their low need. Iron and zinc are considered important elements in plant nutrition, and they are available in abundance in the soil, but due to some reasons, their absorption is very low and limited. Nutrition management in saffron cultivation is one of the important issues in the production of this valuable product. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of studying the effect of foliar application of iron and zinc on the quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran.

The experiment was carried out in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University at Khorramabad, Iran in the crop year of 2021-2022 on 6-year old saffron plant as a complete randomized block design in three replications. In order to analyze the soil and determine the concentration of elements, a composite sample of the farm soil (0-30 cm depth) was prepared and the physicochemical properties of the soil were tested. The experimental treatments included distilled water as control, 5% iron foliar, 5% zinc foliar, 5% iron + 5% zinc foliar. Spraying of iron and zinc solutions were done in two stages (mid-March and mid-April) at 8-10 am. One irrigation was done in early October. Weed control was done by manual weeding in several stages. The flower picking operations were carried out in the middle of November 2022 and the characteristics of fresh weight of flowers, number of flowers per unit area, fresh weight of stigma, dry weight of stigma, percent of safranal, picrocrocin and crocin of stigma were measured. The flower was harvested at the beginning of the day. Then the petals were separated from the stigma.

The results indicated that the effect of foliar treatment was significant so the number of flowers (by 57.81%), fresh and dry weight of flowers (by 20.62% and 80.97%), fresh and dry weights of stigma (by 44.22% and 65.27%), crocin (by 6.88%), picrocrocin (by 11.39%)and safranal (by 9.66%) were increased because of zinc foliar application. The low effect of combined treatment of iron + zinc compared to the control can be related to the interaction of iron and zinc on the saffron plant, or that mixing these two types of elements may have negative effects considering the other ingredients included in their formulation on the absorption of the two mentioned elements or metabolic processes of plants. The availability of elements needed by the plant increases the number of flowers. Foliar spraying with zinc element showed a higher average compared to iron foliar spraying and zinc + iron foliar spraying. Crocin had a positive and significant correlation with traits such as picrocrocin and stigma dry weight, but safranal did not show a significant correlation with any of the studied traits.

Foliar application of micronutrient elements improved the quantitative and qualitative yield of saffron plant. The results of current experiment showed that foliar application of 5% iron and 5% zinc increased the quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron plants. Foliar spraying with zinc element showed a higher average compared to iron foliar spraying and zinc + iron foliar spraying. Considering the lack of zinc element and the low absorption of iron element in Iranian soils, it is recommended to apply micronutrient element foliar application in order to achieve high performance.

Among Iran's industrial and export products, saffron has found an important place as the most valuable agricultural product in the world. One of the ways to increase yield in saffron is to provide sufficient number of mineral elements needed by the plant. This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of biofertilizers including seaweed extract and ascorbic acid on quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron in a farm in Shahrood and Shahrood University of Technology laboratory in 2021.

The experiment was conducted based on the randomized complete block design in three replications. Spraying consisted of seven levels (control: spraying with distilled water), 2, 3 and 4 mg/L of brown seaweed extract (Ascophyllum nodosum), 50, 100 and 150 mM ascorbic acid in the flowering stage. Seaweed extract was used under the Akadine, made in Canada, and ascorbic acid was produced by Merck, Germany. Spraying of the materials were done in three stages (20 february 2021, 5 and 19 march 2022) at 10 o'clock in the morning. During the growing season of the plant (from the fall of 2021 to the end of May 2022), no organic or chemical fertilizers were used either in the form of irrigation or in the form of soil. During this period, the use of herbicides was avoided. The number of four stages of irrigation was applied, similar to previous years. All the plots were irrigated at the same rate and in the form of flooding. Seaweed extract was used under the Akadine, made in Canada, and ascorbic acid was produced by Merck, Germany. Data analysis was done using SAS 9.1 software and the means were compared using LSD test.

The results showed that the number of saffron flowers increased with the application of seaweed extract and ascorbic acid compared to the control. The highest flower fresh weight was recorded in plants that were sprayed with 4 mg/L of seaweed extract. All levels of foliar spraying, except for the lowest level of each substance (2 mg/L of seaweed extract and 50 mM ascorbic acid) caused a significant increase in the dry weight of the stigma compared to the control. The highest stigma dry weight was recorded in plants that were sprayed with 100 mM ascorbic acid. Anthocyanin increased by 11.53, 28.84, and 23.07% in plants that received 2, 3, and 4 mg/L of seaweed extract as a foliar spray, respectively. Total phenol was significantly increased in plants that received 2, 3 and 4 mg/L of seaweed extract and 100 and 150 mM ascorbic acid. The highest amount of total phenol was equal to 6.34 mg/g dry weight, which was related to the plants that were sprayed with 3 mg/l of seaweed extract. The use of seaweed extract at all three levels of 2, 3 and 4 mg/L caused a significant increase in anthocyanin by 11.53, 28.84 and 23.07%, respectively, compared to the control. Among the measured effective substances of saffron, only safranal increased under the influence of seaweed extract. Although the use of ascorbic acid increased the amount of anthocyanin, this increase was not statistically significant.

The results of this research showed that the application of seaweed extract and ascorbic acid in the form of foliar spraying increased traits such as the number of flowers, fresh weight of flowers, anthocyanin and finally the dry weight of saffron stigma. In general, it can be said that the qualitative characteristics of saffron can be improved by using seaweed extract and ascorbic acid. Finally, within the scope of the research, it is suggested to use 4 mg/L of seaweed extract and 100 mM ascorbic acid to increase yield in saffron.

The common method of traditional saffron production is its production under open-field conditions. Recently, due to climate change outcomes attention has been paid to its production under controlled conditions (hydroponic and aeroponics). In the last two decades, decrease in precipitation, increase in temperature during flower initiation phase and consequently the abortion of some initiated flowers, delay in supplying the proper temperature for flower emergence in autumn, poor soils quality which renders difficulty the flower emergence; have led to the decline in the flowering capacity of saffron in several countries under natural conditions, progressively. Accordingly, its hydroponic production could represent a possible solution for reducing the above-mentioned problems, due to the lack of soil, the proper temperature levels, and providing appropriate water availability in this production system (Behdani & Fallahi, 2015; Aghhavani-Shajari et al., 2021). In addition, under open-field condition, the flowering period of saffron lasts for about three weeks, and during this period of time, high labor is required. To solve this problem, it is possible to extend the corms pseudo-dormancy stage and the flowering phase by using the hydroponic systems, with a controlled environment. In saffron hydroponic planting systems, the amount of water consumption is reduced considerably which is important in dry regions. In addition, flower harvesting in hydroponic system is faster, cheaper, and cleaner, because environmental factors such as wind, dust, and frost, have no effect on flowers (Behdani & Fallahi, 2015; Aghhavani-Shajari et al., 2021; Fallahi et al., 2021a). However, it is necessary to compare the two systems of open-field and hydroponics in terms of the amount of flowering and the quality of the produced stigma.   To compare the effect of saffron corm planting systems (including 1- under controlled environment (hydroponic) and, 2- open-field environment), on flowering indices and stigma color parameters (Hunter lab color scale), an experiment was conducted in the research field and horticultural physiology laboratory of Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, during 2019, with four replications. In open-field treatment, the corms were planted in soil at a depth of 10 cm and density of 100 corms per m2, while in the hydroponic system corms were planted in trays (30×40 cm, 100 corms per tray) and were transferred to incubator (temperature: 15 oC, relative humidity: 75%, 8 hours light, 16 hours darkness). In this experiment, the traits of flower number, flowering rate, flower yield, mean flower weight, flower length, style length, stigma length, dry yield of stigma and petal, anther yield, and Hunter's color indices including brightness (L), redness (a) and yellowness (b) of saffron stigma were measured. The two planting systems were compared using t-student test, by SAS, 9.2.  The results of analysis of variance showed that there was a significant different between two experimental treatments, in terms of the most studied traits. Based on the mean comparison results, there was no difference between production systems for the number and yield of flowers. However, the maximum flowering rate (5.82 flowers day-1) and the mean flower weight (0.34 g) were obtained in the hydroponics system. Also, planting corms under controlled conditions resulted in the maximum length of flower, style and stigma (7.38, 4.40 and 2.49 cm, respectively). In addition, the highest dry yield of saffron stigma was obtained in the controlled environment, so that this treatment was superior by almost 14% compared to the open-field environment. This finding is similar to those reported previously by Maggio et al., (2006), Aghhavani-Shajar et al., (2021) and Khan et al., (2022). The comparison of the color parameters between the two studied treatments showed that the maximum brightness (L) and redness (a) of the stigma (57.52 and 15.41, respectively) were observed in the hydroponic system. In a similar study, it was reported that stigmas obtained from soil less production system had higher L and crocin values, while safranal content was significantly lower in comparison to traditional production system (open-field), which means that stigma produced under open-field was some darker in appearance but had a higher aroma (Aghhavani-shajari et al., 2021).  In general, corm planting in a controlled environment increased stigma yield and improved partially stigma colorimetric parameters.

Water is one of the most common and at the same time the most important substance on the planet. All kinds of plants in different parts of the earth need more water than any other environmental factor. The main purpose of direct measurements or evapotranspiration calculations is the amount of water required by plants. Knowledge of the water need of plants in each region and its use in agricultural planning plays an important role in water usage. Due to the reduction of fresh water reserves in the world, accurate estimation of evaporation and transpiration and water requirement of plants seems to be important. Therefore, developing an irrigation plan and applying proper irrigation management can reduce the losses caused by water resources. The aim of the current research is to determine the evapotranspiration and plant coefficients of saffron plant and the evapotranspiration of the grass reference plant by two methods, lysimeter and FAO-Penman-Mantith, in Birjand city.
 
The research was carried out in the agricultural year of 2018-2019 in the lysimetry laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture, Birjand city, for this purpose. The saffron plant was grown in six lysimeters and the grass reference plant in three lysimeters, in the collection of lysimetry laboratories of the Faculty of Agriculture, Birjand University. The growth period of saffron plant was divided into four initial (27 days), development (54 days), middle (40 days) and final (54 days) stages. Irrigation was done daily until the soil moisture reached the agricultural capacity. The irrigation volume was adjusted based on the soil moisture level, the reason for which was mentioned above. The start time of irrigation was determined based on soil moisture and Fc. The end of irrigation was done according to the condition and moisture content of the soil.
The average of evapotranspiration of the grass reference plant by lysimetric and FAO-Penman-Monteith methods was obtained equal to 4.32 and 4.19 mm/day, respectively, and the average of evapotranspiration of the saffron plant during the 175-day growth period was obtained equal to 2.34 mm/day. During different stages of growth, the amount of the average of single crop coefficient was estimated 0.36, 0.66, 0.86 and 0.42, respectively, and the average of dual crop coefficient was estimated 0.37, 0.67, 0.87 and 0.42, respectively. With the passage of time, the amount of evaporation-transpiration of the reference plant has increased, which can be attributed to the long day length and the increase in net solar radiation, with the increase in temperature, the amount of evaporation-transpiration also has increased, so the demand of the plant to receive water increases.
 
Observations indicated that at the beginning of the period, due to high evaporation, this coefficient was clearly obtained from their sum, but in the middle stage, due to the decrease in evaporation and the predominance of transpiration, the coefficient of vegetation in most cases was Sweating has approached and this trend of changes has been the same in all lysimeters. The value of the basic vegetation coefficient (transpiration component) gradually increased after passing through the initial stage and reached the maximum value in the middle stage. The value of the evaporation coefficient from the soil surface (Ke) is the highest after the surface soil layer is wetted by rain or irrigation. As this layer dries, the evaporation coefficient will increase. In the condition that there is no water left in the surface layer of the surface soil, the evaporation coefficient reaches zero. The two-component vegetation coefficient, which is the sum of the transpiration and evaporation components, also decreases gradually. The fluctuations seen in the graph are due to the short irrigation period.

Saffron is a plant from the lily family, which has a special place among medicinal plants due to its great medicinal and spice value. All the factors that cause abnormalities in the process of plant growth are called stress. Salinity is one of the most important and common environmental stresses in the world, including Iran, which affects the quantitative and qualitative performance of many agricultural and horticultural crops. Considering the origin of life from the seas, salinity stress is probably the first type of environmental stress that living organisms have encountered during evolution. Generally, salinity has a noticeable effect on all the morphological, physiological, biochemical and anatomical characteristics of most plants and has a negative effect on the growth and development, survival and production of plants and affects the performance components depending on when the stress is applied to the plant. It affects the high concentration of salts in the rhizosphere along with the reduction of soil water potential and the creation of physiological drought stress as well as the creation of ionic toxicity and the imbalance of ions due to salinity stress harms the plant. The increase of various salts in the soil or irrigation water causes the plant to face salinity stress. When the plant is placed in a salty environment, the osmotic potential of the soil solution becomes negative and toxic ions such as sodium and chlorine accumulate. Salinity affects many plant growth and physiology characteristics and prevents their proper growth and performance. The biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants is not only genetically controlled, but also influenced by other environmental factors including salinity.
 
In order to investigate the effect of salinity stress and ecotype on some biochemical characteristics of saffron plant, a factorial pot experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block design with five levels of salinity (control, 50, 100, 150 and 250 mM) and three ecotypes (Ghainat, Torbat). Heydarieh and Sabzevar) were carried out with three replications in Pakdasht Varamin research greenhouse of Filistan village in 2017 and then transferred to the greenhouses of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in late fall of 2017. The measured biochemical traits were (chlorophyll a, b, total, carotenoid, total phenol, total sugar, proline and crocin). Data analysis was done with SPSS (Version 22), SAS and Excel 2016 software, and comparison of means was done using LSD method.
 
Based on the results of data variance analysis, the effect of salinity stress on biochemical indices such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, phenol, carbohydrate, anthocyanin, proline and crocin is significant at the probability level of 1%. The effect of ecotype on all measured parameters was significant at the probability level of 1%. Also, the interaction effect of ecotype and salinity stress on chlorophyll a, carotenoid, phenol, carbohydrate, anthocyanin, proline and crocin was significant at the level of one percent, but on chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, at the level of five percent. The results showed that salinity stress had obvious and significant effects on morphological and biochemical traits of saffron. Among the salinity levels, the 50 mM salinity level is superior to the other salinity levels in most of the studied traits. This ecotype of Ghainat showed superiority in most of the studied traits compared to the two ecotypes of Torbet Heydarieh and Sabzevar.
 
Sabzevar ecotype showed a higher content of crocin compared to the two ecotypes of Ghainat and Tarbiat Heydarieh at all levels of salinity stress. Based on the results of this research, the most tolerant ecotype to salinity stress is Ghainat ecotype, and the most sensitive ecotype to salinity stress is Sabzevar ecotype. Also, the best salinity level that had the least decrease in the studied traits was the salinity level of 50 mM.

Climate change is one of the most important challenges of mankind. Farm systems in particular are faced with predictable and unpredictable shocks in that their functionality is affected in terms of both quality and quantity. Farm systems capacity for recovery, reorganization, and evolution following external tensions and shocks are discussed within the context of resiliency framework. However, recommendation and evaluation of policy-making solutions in resiliency literature is limited. In other words, most resiliency critics highlight shortcomings of resiliency in terms of conceptualization. Moreover, with correct conceptualization of resiliency policy making and program planning would be facilitated. Therefore, this study sought to investigate resiliency assessment scale titled SHARP (self-evaluation and holistic assessment of climate resilience of farmers and pastoralists), which is developed by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), with the goal of social economic systems (SES) in the context of participatory resilient assessment.

This research is conducted in a mixed manner with a relative qualitative-dominant approach. that was previously used in the context of developing countries. The SHARP assessment tool was pilot tested among 20 saffron growers in Kermanshah Province with quantitative-qualitative dominant in mind. The SHARP assessment tool comprised of 52 statements measuring the resiliency of saffron farmers facing climate shocks. Each saffron grower was evaluated on a 30-point scale including 10 points for academic and 10 points importance and 10 points for applying or taking resiliency measures.

The results of this research will be presented in two sections:SHARP scale localization is carried out within a seven-stage procedure, including: adding and removing questions to/from the original version of the SHARP tool, questionnaire translation, grading, implementation within the software environment, early implementation with 5 farmers, analysis and assessments based upon the early implementation, and the SHARP scale pilot implementation. Experimental implementation of the Iranian SHARP with twenty saffron farmers in Kermanshah state: The sample and the goal of the field work were twenty farmers from the saffron farmers of Kermanshah province. The field experiment was carried out in a two-stage process including: scientific evaluation through the farmers’ self-assessment and conducting group discussions about the results of the first stage results with the farmers to analyzing and discuss their feedbacks. In the twenty analyzed farm systems, the most resiliency against the farm system components included meal sessions (25.5), energy resources (19), tensions (18.9), and livelihood (18.8). Furthermore, the least resiliency if the farm systems corresponded with usage of sales channels without intermediaries and direct sale (10.9), group membership (10.5), and the market (12). The accuracy of aforementioned measures was verified via utilizing the four measures suggested by Gabba et al. (1994); 1) Credibility 2) Confirmability 3) Transferability 4) Dependability

Farmers feedbacks and utilization of the SHARP scale, form the discussions’ core. Saffron farmers’ positive feedback with respect to owning a scale that provides quick results is important, since it provides the possibility of their participation in small groups to discuss their results, make comparisons with each other and identify the farm system’s resiliency. Resiliency assessment of farm systems using the SHARP scale is easy and interesting. This is mostly since it does not require official documentation; therefore, farmers can answer it with simple and rudimentary knowledge of the farm’s daily operation. However, in the fields of market, utilization of channels without intermediaries, and group participation are in the lowest levels of scientific resiliency, and this demonstrates that while saffron farmers of Kermanshah state are resilient against the pressure mounting from the climate change, but they may indirectly feel the climate change’s effects with respect to vulnerabilities in the markets and price volatilities, due to lower support. The SHARP scale is the right answer for resiliency evaluation in saffron farm systems, and with respect to the parameters which yield lower resiliency in the system, it shows that centralization in Iran’s farm system is quite clear, and authority delegation and belief in the “groups” existence will play a significant role in creating resiliency as it generates investment improvement through forming of farmers’ networks and moreover, farmers collaboration in the form of building cooperatives with various functionalities. Also, the negotiation and bargaining power increments with regards to the market price will also be affected by forming market-related cooperatives, and furthermore, capitalist support of small businesses will be facilitated in this structure. Since, the market parameter, has reduced the resiliency; for (resiliency’s) betterment, organization and implementation of farming education programs can be pointed to. Farming education programs can be provided to the farmers in the form of marketing management models, so that, it could help them to become more capable in this regard via better decision-making. The other solution of the policymakers is to put sanctions on beneficiaries who utilize false advertisement for fake marketing. This action can create more transparency and accountability for customers’ purchase options.

The brand is one of the intangible assets of any company, whose proper management can pave the way to achieve more significant market share and profitability in any industry (Usulian et al., 2002). Saffron, as the red gold of Iran, the most valuable agricultural product and the most expensive spice in the world, has always enjoyed a special place in the history of our country's exports. After dates, it is the country's most important non-oil export product. Then agricultural products account for a significant part of non-oil exports, in which saffron has been of particular importance, so that in different periods, it has been one of the country's major export products. Iran has more than 90% of the domestic production of saffron and has the first place in the production of this valuable product. It ranks first in the world in saffron production and alone produces 90% of the world's saffron. (Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, 2021).

In terms of the nature of the type of quantitative research, this research is non-experimental in terms of the degree of control of variables, in terms of the purpose of the applied research. The statistical population is about 750 people. sample size was determined by using the Karjesi-Morgan table of 256 people. Using the simple random sampling method, people were selected entirely randomly. The studied subjects were questioned and interviewed using a questionnaire. Options of components influencing internal branding were prepared with ordinal and interval scales, including 31 questions. In order to determine the reliability of the research tool, a pre-test was conducted using 30 questionnaires in the early stages of questioning, and Cronbach's alpha value was calculated using SPSS version 21 software. Then the reliability of different questionnaire parts was measured in the pre-test stage. The Cronbach alpha coefficient of the questionnaire was calculated in the practical components of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand association, brand performance, brand image, and attitude, and perceived quality of the brand according to the range of 0.817 to 0.937.

At this stage, in order to determine the significance of the indicators of each of these structures, the accuracy of each of these indicators in introducing the desired structure, and the validity of the structures with the hidden variable of the internal branding components of saffron, second-order confirmatory factor analysis was used; Therefore, the measurement model of internal branding components of saffron with 31 markers and six constructs was implemented in the form of second-order factor analysis in Lisrel software, and the relationships of its markers were drawn. Table 5 is related to the number of factor loadings (impact values) for each factor, and Table 6 is related to their t-statistics. In order to analyze the fitted model, first of all, it is necessary to examine the appropriateness of the model fitting criteria. In this research, to evaluate the confirmatory factor analysis model of chi-square indices, the most important index of the square root of the variance of the approximation error (RMSEA), the standardized mean squared residuals (SRMR), the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), the smoothed goodness-of-fit index (NFI), Unsmoothed goodness of fit (NNFI) and comparative fit index (CFI) were used. According to Table 3 of the fit criteria of the cooperative components measurement model, the overall fit of the model is appropriate, and the assumed theoretical structure for the model is confirmed.

Today, brand management is an increasingly important field in marketing management, especially as organizations direct their efforts toward communicating subtle and complex messages (Goodchild and Callow, 2001). Therefore, this research was conducted by examining the various dimensions of internal brand-building effects of saffron, and the explanation of the influential components using the second-order factor analysis showed that the most influential factors include the perceived quality of the brand, brand association, brand performance, awareness of Brand, brand loyalty and brand image and attitude. Other researchers also confirm the obtained results.