EFFECTS OF SAFFRON (CROCUS SAT VUSL.) CORM PLACEMENT POSITION AND CORM SIZE ON STIGMA AND CORM YIELDS

Saffron (Crocus sativusL.) is an important medicinal and spice of Turkey. Saffron cultivation has decreased in Turkey has confined to only in three villages in Safran Bolu district of Karabuyuk province. It is triploid and exclusively propagated vegetatively by corms. In Turkey, saffron is traditionallly planted by placing corms in rows randomly without grading or sorting; which results in placement of corms in vertical, horizontal and reverse positions in rows randomly. The study aimed to find the effect of corm size and position of placement in rows on saffron’s stigma and corms yield. This study was carried out at the experimental fields of the Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara Univeristy, during 2010-2011 using four different corms size and three placement positions in three replications. The results showed that position of corms and their size had significant effect on stigma yield. Whereas, corm yield was influenced by corm size only.