A study on the effects of environmental factors on vegetative characteristics and corm yield of saffron (Crocus sativus)

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most important economical crops in Iran. The present study was conducted to evaluate the morphological characteristics and yield of saffron corms in six regions of Talesh city, Guilin province (Iran) with different altitudes. The studied regions were considered as treatments and the obtained data were analyzed based on a nested design. The results showed significant difference among the cultivation areas in terms of number, diameter and dry weight of corm. The areas withaltitudesof ~1250 and ~1400 m produced the maximum number of corm per plant (7.64 and 6.16, respectively). The highest corm diameter (15.7 mm) and dry weight (0.94 g) were produced in the plain region with ~30 m altitude. Direct associations were observed among environmental factors such as precipitation, relative humidity, annual mean temperature and saffron corm weight. According to the results of the present experiment, saffron corm can be efficiently produced in Talesh region of Guilan province.