Agro-Climatic Suitability Evaluation for Saffron Production in Areas of Western Himalaya

Abstract

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an expensive spice crop cultivated successfully in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Greece, Morocco, Spain, and Italy. The present study was conducted during the periods 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 to evaluate the morphological, yield and quality parameters of saffron in six different regions of non-traditional areas of the western Himalayas. The two experimental factors were “year” and “location.” The experiment was conducted using a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Yield attributes, viz., number of flowers, fresh flower yield, fresh stigma yield and dry stigma yield were significantly higher in location L3 compared to other geographical locations. Dry stigma yield in location L3 was higher by 50.0, 41.2, 33.3, 14.3, and 9.1% compared to locations L6, L5, L1, L4, and L2, respectively. These were characterized by the appropriate climatic conditions, viz., high altitude, sandy-loam texture of the soil, optimum temperature, lesser relative humidity and total rainfall, demonstrating that it is possible to cultivate this spice even in non-traditional areas of the western Himalaya. Positive correlations were established for stigma yield with increased altitude and lesser rainfall. Secondary metabolites viz., crocin and picrocrocin increased significantly with the increase in altitude; however, a reverse trend was recorded for safranal content. Total phenolics and flavonoids were significantly higher in the geographical location of Kinnaur, H.P. (L1) and Bharmour, H.P. (L4). In conclusion, the assessment of different geographical locations and soil types is particularly necessary to encourage saffron production and its qualitative traits. Based on current findings, saffron can be grown successfully in some non-traditional locations of the western Himalayan regions.

Introduction of high-value Crocus sativus (saffron) cultivation in non-traditional regions of India through ecological modelling

“…The ENM analysis of predictive variables using Jackknifing of regularised training gain has suggested precipitation (during driest and coldest quarters) as the important environmental variable influencing saffron’s cultivation (Table 1 ). The total rainfall of 742.7 mm was the favourable environmental conditions for optimum growth of saffron 33 . The J&K in India receives sufficient precipitations during these periods producing favourable conditions for saffron.…”

“…Other important variables influencing saffron cultivation were identified as temperature and solar radiations during the coldest quarter. Temperature ranging from 20.9 to 27.8 °C with an average temperature of 28.2 °C was found suitable for the growth and flowering of saffron 33 .…”

Deciphering the role of codon usage bias on gene expression and pathogen colonization in Crocus sativus

“…Most investigations on monocot species were focused on grasses however the con guration of codon usage could not be extrapolated for other monocot species. Among the monocots, C. sativus is a prominent member of family iridiceae, cultivated mostly for its valuable desiccated stigma that forms the saffron (Bhat et al 2018; Kothari et al 2021). Saffron has been considered as an important medicinal herb since long.…”

Comparative analysis of apocarotenoids and phenolic constituents of Crocus sativus stigmas from 11 countries: Ecological impact

“…For example, geographical location, average annual temperature, and harvest periods significantly and positively correlated with the content of phenolic acids and flavonoids (p < .05). [32,33] Annual sunshine duration and altitude affect the crocin content and total yield of saffron [5,31,34,35] and are positively correlated with flavonoids content, rutin content, and antioxidant activity (p <.05). [36] The soil factors have exhibited a higher influence on the levels of total phenolic, flavonoid, flavonol, saponin, crocins, and protein content in plants.…”

“…[36] The soil factors have exhibited a higher influence on the levels of total phenolic, flavonoid, flavonol, saponin, crocins, and protein content in plants. [34,35,37,38] Thus, compounds biosynthesis depends on the environmental conditions of plant places of growth; some compounds can accumulate only in certain locations, specific organs, and their concentration can also vary. All these factors determine the choice of biomarkers for the quality of plant raw materials.…”