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Crop rotation as an effective strategy for saffron (Crocus sativus L.)

cultivation

Article  in  Scientia Horticulturae · November 2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2016.08.007

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 Scientia Horticulturae 211 (2016) 34–39

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Scientia Horticulturae
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti

Crop rotation as an effective strategy for saffron (Crocus sativus L.)

cultivation
Fabio Gresta a,∗ , Carmelo Santonoceto a , Giovanni Avola b
a
Department AGRARIA, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Loc Feo di Vito, 89122, Reggio Calabria, Italy
b
Trees and Timber Institute, IVALSA, CNR, Via Paolo Gaifami, 18, Catania, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Saffron is an annual plant usually grown as a perennial crop, with well-known problems, which are
Received 21 April 2016 related to the reduction of soil fertility (mainly caused by weeds, biotic pathologies and micronutrients
Received in revised form 7 August 2016 scarcity) that in the long run determine a dramatic yield reduction and overexploitation of the soil. In this
Accepted 10 August 2016
view, crop rotations are considered the traditional antidote to the soil sickness. However, the evidence
of the effects of previous crop on saffron stigma yield and corm production is slender and fragmentary. A
Keywords:
two-year study was carried out to evaluate the effect of three different previous crops (faba bean, saffron
Saffron
and fallow) on saffron stigmas yield and replacement corms production. Two different corm densities (30
Previous crop
Sowing density
and 45 corms m−2 ) were also studied. Faba bean as previous crop determined the highest performance
Crop rotation in terms of flower number (up to 400 flowers m−2 ), stigma yield (up to 2 g m−2 ) and replacement corms
Stigma yield (up to 4.7 kg m−2 ). This paper, to our knowledge, is the first experimental based research on the effects
Corm production of previous crop on stigma and corm yield of saffron.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an autumn flowering geophyte
belonging to the Iridaceae family that has been cultivated in the
Mediterranean Basin since the Late Bronze Age (Negbi, 1999; Gresta
et al., 2008a). It is very famous for its very expensive dried dark-red
stigmas used as spice and condiment for food, as a dye for tex-
tiles and in traditional medicine from ancient times (Rios et al.,
1996; Basker and Negbi, 1983; Negbi, 1999; Gresta et al., 2008a;
Fernández, 2004). Nowadays, it has a niche market and it is used
almost exclusively to give colour, flavour and aroma to food and for
alcoholic beverages.
In recent times, there has been a renewed interest in saffron
from both stakeholders and the scientific community focusing on
its biological properties such as anti-cancer, antioxidant and mem-
ory enhancing activities (Abdullaev and Espinosa-Aguirre, 2004;
Magesh et al., 2006; Pitsikas et al., 2007; Ghadrdoost et al., 2011;
Talaei et al., 2015). These particular and complex properties must
be credited to the uncommon metabolic pool composed of crocetin
esters and crocetin, which has been ascertained to be responsi-
ble for the dark red colour, picrocrocin responsible for the bitter
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: fgresta@unirc.it (F. Gresta).
taste and safranal responsible for the aroma (Lozano et al., 1999;
Carmona et al., 2006; Siracusa et al., 2011). These peculiar char-
acteristics of saffron make it one of the most appreciated spices
available on the market.
From an agronomic point of view, although saffron propagates
vegetatively by means of corms, a some variability has been found
among different geographical origins (Siracusa et al., 2013). Being
well adapted to the Mediterranean area, saffron may represent
an alternative profitable crop for this environment (Gresta et al.,
2008a). The scientific community has explored the effect of mother
corm dimensions (Gresta et al., 2008b; Koocheki and Seyyedi, 2015;
Douglas et al., 2014), sowing time (Gresta et al., 2008b), environ-
mental conditions (Gresta et al., 2009; Siracusa et al., 2010a,b),
soil texture (Gresta et al., 2010), organic and chemical fertilization
(Khorramdel et al., 2015; Hosseini et al., 2004; Behnia et al., 1999;
Behzad et al., 1992) and irrigation (Yarami and Sepaskhah, 2015;
Koocheki et al., 2014; de Juan et al., 2009) on saffron productiv-
ity and sometimes also on its aromatic profile. However, little and
fragmentary information is available on the effects of the previous
crop on saffron yield. Saffron is usually grown as semi-perennial
crop, with well-known problems, which are related to the reduc-
tion of soil fertility (mainly caused by weeds, biotic pathologies and
micronutrients scarcity) that in the long term determine a dramatic
yield reduction and overexploitation of the soil. In this view, crop
rotations are considered the traditional antidote to the soil sickness.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2016.08.007
0304-4238/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 F. Gresta et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 211 (2016) 34–39 35

To overcome this problem, saffron in Abruzzo (central Italy) – one

of the areas in which the highest world productions are recorded
(Tammaro, 1999) – is not grown in the same site continuously, but
annual crop cycle is adopted, with a six-or-more-year rotation with
other crops (Tammaro, 1999). The only information in the literature
on this topic is reported by the same author (Tammaro, 1999), who
observed a decrease in stigma production and an increase in weed
number when saffron was cultivated or the second year on the same
soil.
Improved knowledge on how saffron can be introduced into tra-
ditional crop rotations and with which effects, could contribute to
the diffusion of the crop, even as a profitable break crop in mono-
culture systems.
With this in mind, the aim of the present research was to evalu-
ate the effects of three different previous crops (faba bean, saffron
and fallow) and two sowing densities (30 and 45 corms m−2 ) on
flower yield, flower calendar and corm production.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Experimental site and plan

Researches were conducted for two years (2005 and 2006) in an

experimental field located in Enna, Sicily, Southern Italy (37◦ 37 N
and 14◦ 14 E, 510 m a.s.l.) to evaluate the residual effects of two
crops, saffron (S) and faba bean (Fb), together with a fallow period
(F) on the flower yield and corm production of the succeeding
saffron crop. In both years two wide corm arrangements (D1 = 30
corms m−2 and D2 = 45 corms m−2 ) to better analyse the previous
crop effect were also studied. The six treatments (3 previous crops
x 2 sowing densities) replicated three times for two years were laid Fig. 1. Number of flowers in relation to previous crop and sowing density in 2005
out in a randomized block design. and 2006.

2.2. Field experiment and data collection
Saffron corms, coming from Sardinia, were planted in plots of
15 m2 (3.0 m × 5.0 m) consisting of three beds of 0.60 m each sepa-
rated by footpaths of 0.4 m, in which 3 rows of corms were planted
20 cm far at 10 cm depth. An intra-row distance of 10 cm for D1
and 6.6 cm for D2 was adopted. Sowing was done on August 5th for
2005 and on August 25th for 2006.
Since corm weight and horizontal diameter is strictly correlated
with the number of flowers per corm and thus with the quantity of
spice (Gresta et al., 2008b; Renau-Morata et al., 2012), corms of a
diameter of 3.5 cm (±0.2 cm) and average unitary weight of 21.5 g
were selected for sowing in both years.
Manual hoe weeding was done to keep the experimental plots
weed free. No fertilization was adopted on saffron to avoid any
interference with preceding crop effect. No irrigation was applied.
Flowers were gathered and counted daily in the first hours after
sunrise: stigmas were separated soon after, dried at 35 ◦ C in an
air-forced dryer, and weighted.
On 10 flowers for each replication randomly sampled during
peak flowering periods, the stigma length was calculated by mea-
suring the distance between the point in which the stigma changes
colour (from yellow to red) and the distal extremity with a 1 mm
scale graph paper.
At the end of the crop cycle of 2006, after leaves withering, corms
were counted and weighed; a batch of 60 randomly selected corms
from each plot were sampled to determine the treatment effects
on replacement corm size (longitudinal and transversal section).
Temperatures and rainfall were recorded daily by means of a
data logger placed in the experimental field.
The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance
(ANOVA) to estimate the significance of treatments. Year was con-
sidered as random effect. Comparisons of treatment means were
made applying the Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD)
post hoc test. Since no significative interaction emerged, in the text
we discussed the main factors.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Flower and stigmas yield
The residual contribution of the previous crops had significant
effect (P ≤ 0.01) on the flower production (Fig. 1). In both years, the
results clearly revealed that the highest flower yield was obtained
when saffron followed faba bean (Fb). In these plots, during the
2005 experimental trial, we counted 235 flowers per m−2 vs an
average of 203 flowers per m−2 where saffron followed itself (S)
and fallow (F), with an increase of 16%. A much higher difference
(+83%) was recorded in the second year of experiment where the
plots with faba bean as previous crop Exhibit 399 flowers per m−2
vs an average of 217 flowers per m−2 of S and F plots.
As a consequence, a higher dried stigma yield (1.6 and 2.0 g m−2 ,
in 2005 and 2006, respectively) was obtained in Fb plots compared
to the other treatments (Fig. 2). Even though the effect during the
first year is not statistically significant, the data supports the trend
observed in the following year that Fb plots enhanced yield com-
pared to the S and F ones. For this reason this enhancement of yield
in terms of both flower and stigma production, could be mainly
attributed to the nitrogen fixed into the soil by faba through sym-
biotic nitrogen fixation. It is generally accepted that an appropriate
crop rotation improves soil structure increasing organic matter
resulting in higher yields of the following crop (Smith et al., 2008;
Rao et al., 1995; Saxena et al., 1997). Crop rotation with legumes as
previous crop, furtherly increase crop performance since legumes
36 F. Gresta et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 211 (2016) 34–39
Fig. 2. Stigma yield in relation to previous crop and sowing density in 2005 and
2006.
make substantial net N contributions to soil fertility (Fan et al.,
2006), increasing yields in succeeding crops (Wright, 1990; Graham
and Vance, 2003). Wright (1990) comparing the crop sequences
faba bean-barley-wheat and barley-barley-wheat, assessed that
faba as previous crop was able to increasing subsequent cereal
yield, on average, by 2l% in the first and 12% in the second year.
The nitrogen fertilizer equivalence value of faba bean was esti-
mated to 120 kg N ha−1 . In this view, Behzad et al. (1992) found that
annual distribution of 50 kg/ha of nitrogen increased saffron yields,
and that phosphorus and potassium seems unnecessary, as well as
Sadeghi (1980) reported nitrogen as the most essential element
needed for plant growth and development in saffron.
The productive performance of saffron in the plots succeeding
faba bean are fully comparable with the results obtained using
the typically applied crop techniques. Tammaro (1999), in fact,
reported for saffron field in Navelli (Italy), where the saffron crop
rotation is traditionally applied, an average yield of the dry stig-
mas per hectare of 10–16 kg, corresponding to 1.0–1.6 g m−2 . Gresta
et al. (2008a,b) in a trial carried out in 2004 in Sicily, reported peak
values of 1.24 g m−2 for the stigmas and 3.2 kg m−2 of total weight
of replacement corms, that are values lower than those obtained in
this trial with the faba bean as previous crop.
The sowing rate also showed significant effects (P ≤ 0.01) on
flower production and stigma yield. In both years, the higher sow-
ing rate caused an increment of approximately 50% on flower
production and stigma yield. Sowing density in saffron is extremely
variable. Kumar et al. (2009) in a review on agronomic aspects of
saffron, reports as best corm density spacing from less than 50
corms m−2 up to 300 corms m−2 . Anyway, generally the highest
stigmas yield are reported in literature with highest corm densities,
Fig. 3. Stigma length in relation to previous crop and sowing density in 2005 and
2006.
even though with smaller corms dimension. Mollafilabi et al. (2013)
obtained the highest yield 0.74 g m−2 with a density of 150 corms
m−2 sowing corms, with corms just heavier than 10 g. In a corm
density study (Temperini et al., 2009) the highest stigmas yield was
reached with a corm density included between 111 and 119 corms
m−2 . Anyway, de Juan et al. (2009), comparing two sowing den-
sity of 69 corms m−2 and 51 corms m−2 , found the highest stigmas
production per unit of surface at the high density, while highest
stigmas production per number of corms in the lowest density,
indicating that a competition between corms already started over
51 corms m−2 . Dhar (1992), comparing 10 planting densities from
49 to 256 corms m−2 , found that the arrangement of 49 corm m−2
(14 × 14 cm) recorded the highest flower yield in Kashmir, India.
For this reason, in our trial, we destined a wide sowing density to
avoid competition that could interfere with previous crop effect.
The stigmas length (Fig. 3) did not differ statistically among
studied treatments (previous crop and density) and year of cul-
tivation. The average stigma length was 29.5 mm and 29.9 mm for
2005 and 2006, respectively. These findings are in agreement with
Mitsopoulou and Tsimidou (2004), who report average values of
stigma length below 30 mm. In a study on Kashmir saffron, Nehvi
et al. (2007), reported stigma lengths ranging from 24.1 to 38.7 mm,
while Mir et al. (2012) on 31 selections of saffron found values
ranging from 28.6 to 48.4 mm.
3.2. Flowering calendar
The flowering calendars (Figs. 4 and 5) in the two years of
experiment, showed a similar pattern in relation to the studied
factors (previous crop and density), although some differences can
be observed. Flowering lasted 27 days in both years, but it started
17 days later in 2006 (10th November in 2006 and 24th October in
2005). In both years, five main production peaks can be detected
with the highest daily flower production in the plots succeeding
faba bean that reached values of 58 and 70 flowers m−2 , respec-
 F. Gresta et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 211 (2016) 34–39 37

20 40

rainfall (mm)
rainfall

T min (°C)
15 30
T Min
10 20

5 10

0 0
80

n. flower day-1 m-2

80 Faba bean SD1
SD2
Saffron 60

Fallow
-2

40
n. flowers day m

60 20
-1

0
23/10 28/10 02/11 07/11 12/11 17/11 22/11

40

20

2005
0
23/10 27/10 31/10 04/11 08/11 12/11 16/11 20/11

Fig. 4. Flower calendar in relation to previous crop (main graph) and sowing density (small graph) in 2005.

20 40

rainfall (mm)
T min (°C)

15 30

10 20

5 10

0 0
80 SD1
80 Faba bean SD2
n. flower day-1 m-2

Saffron 60

Fallow
-2

40
n. flowers day m

60 20
-1

0
09/11 14/11 19/11 24/11 29/11 04/12 09/12

40

20

2006
0
09/11 13/11 17/11 21/11 25/11 29/11 03/12 07/12 11/12

Fig. 5. Flower calendar in relation to previous crop (main graph) and sowing density (small graph) in 2006.

tively. This shift could be related to the later sowing date of the Table 1
Climatic data from sowing to flowering in the two years of the experiment.
2006 compared to those of the 2005 (25 August vs 5 August).
As a whole, saffron flower length seems to be not affected by Experimental Year Temperature (◦ C) Rainy days Rainfall
previous crop and seems to be a quite stable variable. In previous
Average Max Min n mm
experiment on saffron, Gresta et al. (2009) found the same flower
2005 August 26.0 32.0 20.7 1 0.2
duration in saffron cultivation in two different environments. This
September 20.2 25.8 16.5 8 27.0
data are also in agreement with McGimpsey et al. (1997) whom, October 16.6 20.9 13.8 20 73.2
in the first year of a multi-year experiment, obtained a flowering November 13.4 17.8 9.4 8 27.4
period of about 30 days. It should be noted, however, that weather
2006 August 24.4 30.5 19.1 – –
conditions (temperature and rainfall) have very great effects on September 20.2 25.4 16.8 8 20.2
flowering induction and flower appearance in saffron (Molina et al., October 18.3 22.9 15.0 5 20.4
2004, 2005; Gresta et al., 2009). Although, the climatic data did not November 12.6 17.2 9.4 15 107.6
December 11.3 14.5 9.1 4 1.2
show marked differences from one year to the next (Table 1), the
second year of the experiment was characterized by a daily tem- 2005: from August 5th to November 20th.
perature 2–3 ◦ C lower compared to the first year and by a more 2006: from August 25th to December 7th.

uniform and effective distribution of rainfall just before and during

the flowering period. Molina et al. (2005) reported that the optimal
38 F. Gresta et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 211 (2016) 34–39

Fig. 6. Weight and number of corms produced in relation to previous crop and
sowing density in 2006.

temperature for flower emergence is around 15–17 ◦ C. On the same

topic, Gresta et al. (2009) concluded that to trigger saffron flower-
ing, it is necessary that a not yet fully understood combination of
temperature and soil water content occurs. In our trial, the greater
flower production occurred in 2006 could be related to the com-
bination of air temperature of around 10 ◦ C and rainfall of at least
20 mm.

3.3. Replacement corms

The replacement corms were harvested after leaf withering in
July 2006 to determine their dimensions. The positive effect of the
residual contribution of the faba bean as previous crop was con-
firmed by the three-fold corm yield and the almost two-fold corm
number obtained in Fb plots (Fig. 6) when compared to the other
previous crops, which showed no difference between them (4.7 vs
1.6 kg m−2 and 364 vs 198 corms m−2 , respectively).
As seen in Fig. 7, the corm dimensions of the replacement corms
was greatly affected by the residual effect of the previous crop. The
highest median values in terms of corm weight and dimensions
were recorded when faba bean was previous crop, whereas previ-
ous saffron and fallow plots which exhibited the same value. Fig. 6
also shows the distribution of the aforesaid data for each previous
crop; although faba plots revealed a marked skew in the data, 50%
of measurements of corm weight and longitudinal section have val-
ues higher than the 75th percentile of all the other previous plots,
except the saffron plots at the highest density.
Fig. 7. Box plot of the corm weight, longitudinal and transversal section. Box plots
show median values (the black line in the box structures), mean (the dash line in
the box structures), 50th percentile values (box outlines), 90th percentile values
(whiskers) and 95th percentile values (dots).
4. Conclusions
The results reported here from a two-year experiment clearly
demonstrated how saffron was able to exploit the residual contri-
bution of the faba bean as previous crop, and that it is possible to
grow saffron with good yields following a break crop. In fact, faba
bean as previous crop greatly promotes stigmas and replacement
corm yield of saffron. Also the highest corm density of 45 corms
m−2 increased stigmas and corm production compared to the low-
est corm density. Flower calendar was not affected by previous crop
and corm density. In other words, soil fertility and crop manage-
ment for saffron can be mainly based on a simply crop rotation with
legumes. Saffron represents an alternative viable crop for sustain-
 F. Gresta et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 211 (2016) 34–39
able agriculture, confirming its ability to exploit marginal land and
previous crop benefits.
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