Effect of Corm Size, Row Spacing and Plant Distance on the Flower Production of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) Under Rainfed Conditions of Quetta, Balochistan
Effect of Corm Size, Row Spacing and Plant Distance on the Flower Production of Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) Under Rainfed Conditions of Quetta, Balochistan
Mahpara Fida Ahmed1, Abdul Hanan2* and Sher Ahmed2
ABSTRACT
Saffron flower production and stigma yield with respect to corms size and spacing were determined by conducting two experiments at Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) center based at Quetta, Pakistan, during 2015-2016. The experiments were carried out under rainfed Conditions using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). In the one experiment, three treatments (T1 to T3) of corm sizes viz: large (8-11 g), medium (5-7 g) and small (less than 4 g) were used. In the second experiment, five treatments (T1 to T5) of row to row and plant to plant distance/spacing viz: T1= 15 cm, T2= 20 cm, T3= 25 cm, T4= 30 cm and T5= 35 cm were used. The results indicated that only large corms produced the flowers while medium and small corms failed to produce flowers. Large corms emerged out in less (46) days, survived higher (95.33 %) with a maximum leaf height (25.32 cm), higher number of leaves/plant (7.26) and higher number of daughter corms (6.33). However, the saffron stigma fresh and dry weight produced by large corms was recorded as 0.0354 and 0.0075g, respectively. Further results indicated no significant differences among the parameters recorded for the row to row and plant to plant spacing experiment except for total flower production where the highest production (162.3) was recorded in 15 cm spacing. The results also indicated that corms with a weight of 8-11 g are suitable for sowing while below 8 g are not suitable for flower production of saffron.
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