Execution of aeroponic cultivation of saffron by researchers
Marzieh Khosravi, a master’s degree student in medicinal plants at the Bardsir Agricultural Higher Education Center of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, implemented an aeroponic saffron cultivation project for the first time in Bardsir.
Dr. Mehdi Naghizadeh, Head of Bardsir Agricultural Higher Education Center, said: Saffron or red gold is a valuable and profitable plant that has been cultivated in Iran for thousands of years and lack of agricultural land, drought and water shortage are among the problems in producing this product. It is valuable.
He continued: Aeroponic method or aeration in saffron cultivation, allows to produce saffron in large quantities without the need for arable land and irrigation and achieve significant profits, and aeroponic cultivation of saffron can be done in a small space, a hall of 100 meters or Even one of the rooms of the house should be done.
The head of the Bardsir Agricultural Higher Education Center said: We do not have the costs of equipment, plowing the land, water supply and many other costs in cultivating saffron greenhouses. Also, saffron cultivation in the field has problems such as pests, frost, destruction of saffron bulbs by rodents, untimely rainfall at harvest time and similar problems, but these cases are not seen in greenhouse cultivation.
He added: The method of aeroponic cultivation or aeration is carried out without the need for field and soil and it should be noted that in this method the plant should not have any direct contact with water because it increases the possibility of onion rot and disease transmission and only temperature conditions and Provided the moisture needed by the plant at the right time.
Marzieh Khosravi, a master’s degree student in medicinal plants at the Bardsir Agricultural Higher Education Center and the executor of the project, also said about the cultivation process: We store in the dark until September. During this period, the planting trays with special wooden dimensions were made in several floors with a distance of 50 cm and at the end of August, the saffron sticks were taken out of the warehouse and disinfected with fungicides and acaricides solutions of 2%. After 1 to 2 days when the water came out, we put the corms in a tray and next to each other and transferred them to the planting room and floors.
He added: After that, we put it in a dark place for a while and adjusted the temperature and humidity according to the needs of saffron. After the dark stages, the exposure started gradually, and then it provided the appropriate moisture to the stems and in Last week we suddenly started chilling.
He continued: After the last cold, which was done under special conditions, the coriander trees began to bloom. Flowering of coriander was closely related to the weight of coriander, which was noteworthy, and larger coriander had better flowering.
According to the announcement of the public relations of the Ministry of Science, the quantitative and qualitative comparison of aeroponic saffron with natural conditions is underway, and after completing these steps, the economics and quality of this type of planting will be commented on.
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