THE EFFECTS OF PLACEMENT POSITION AND CORM SIZE OF SAFFRON (CROCUS SATIVUS L.) ON STIGMA AND CORM YIELDS IN ANKARA CONDITIONS

Background & Aim: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) formerly was important in Turkey. Saffron cultivation has been decreased and it is now only cultivated in three villages in this country. It is triploid and exclusively propagated in a vegetative way by corms. In Turkey, saffron is traditionally planted by placing corms in rows randomly without grading or sorting; which results in placement of corms in vertical, horizontal and reverse in rows at random. The study aimed to find the effect of corm size and position of placement in rows on stigma and corms yield. Experimental: This study was done at the experimental fields of the Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, during 2010-2011 using four different corms size and three placement positions in three replications. Results & Discussion: The results revealed that position of corms and their size had significant effect on stigma yield. Whereas, corm yield was influenced by corm size only. Recommended applications/industries: According this study, vertical placement produced more stigma yield than other ones in planting. Vertical placement corms in rows should be practiced to obtain more stigma yield.