Effect of Plastic Nets on Saffron Growth

Abstract

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) stands as the most expensive spice in the world. Newly introduced to Lebanon, widespread implementations of this crop are blooming in the Beqaa region, especially by AUB Arec through its teachings. Saffron blooms in the fall season, each flower produces three stigmas, and it is estimated that an average of 150 thousand flowers are needed to produce 1 kg of Saffron dry weight. Saffron is a male sterile plant, which duplicates manually through its underground corms. This project was implemented due to the high increase of sunlight in the Beqaa region, which prompted the use of nets as controlled shading to evaluate the optimal environmental growth and development for Saffron. The research will analyze the effect of the number of holes per square Inch in nets.

Each treatment allows a different percentage of light to reach the plants. The experiment portrays a 616 m2 land plot of an already planted saffron field, which held corms 3 years of age, imported from the kingdom of the Netherlands. The research accommodates 5 total treatments, each treatment corresponding to a net covering a plot in different hole number/size, starting from control (no net), followed by two nets with five 0.51cm holes per square Inch, one with twenty-five 0.1cm holes per square Inch, and one with thirty 0.08cm holes per square Inch; control treatment will be left open to the elements to reveal the effect of nets as a comparison to a non-netted plot. These five treatments will be replicated four times.

Our objective is to study which net had the most significance on Saffron growth, development, and increase in the number of blooming flowers, corm number, size, and plant height/cluster number. Higher hole density in nets led to reduced light transmittance, triggering plants to seek light and resulting in increased above-ground biomass.

Nets with lower hole density demonstrated the highest effectiveness by promoting greater flower counts and stigma weights, suggesting a conducive environment for saffron flower growth. Nets with higher hole density positively influenced cormlet formation and proliferation, contributing to the development of cormlets.