Water deficit regimes and techniques using moisture-absorbent materials are the main approaches to achieving the goals of sustainable agriculture and water resources conservation in arid and semi-arid areas. A field experiment as a split-plot based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications at the research farm of the Saffron Institute of the University of Torbat Heydarieh during three consecutive crop years (2015–16, 2016–17, and 2017–18). The main plots consisted of three irrigation regimes 20 (W1), 35 (W2), and 50-day irrigation interval (W3), and the sob-plots included without application (H0) and application of superabsorbent hydrogel (H1). The research findings showed that the highest values of the plant leaf number (19.3, 21.3, and 33.5, respectively) and the dry leaf yield (2291.9, 3837, 4979.5 kg ha, respectively) during the experiment years were achieved from the application of hydrogel under full irrigation condition (W1H1). The improvement in these crop parameters was significantly higher when the hydrogel was used under water deficit compared to well-watered conditions. Based on the three-year means, the highest increase in the leaf number (18.1 %) as a result of the hydrogel application was observed in the W3 treatment, while the highest increase in the dry leaf yield (24.8 %) was observed in the W2 treatment. The fresh flower yield also peaked in the W1H1 treatment (776.5, 1421.1, and 2074.8 kg ha, respectively). Similarly, dry stigma yield reached its highest values (6.3, 11.2, and 17.0 kg ha, respectively) in the W1H1 treatment. While the highest increase in the two mentioned traits due to hydrogel application in the experiment years (25.3 and 32.9 %, respectively) was obtained when the saffron plants were subjected to a 35-day irrigation interval. While the W1H1 treatment displayed the highest corm number (122.8, 252.8, and 341.4) and corm yield (19.8, 31.7, and 45.1 t ha), the effect of hydrogel in improving these parameters was greater under prolonged irrigation intervals, so that the highest increase in the corm number (19.6 %) was obtained under 35-day irrigation interval and in the corm yield (21.9 %) was observed under 50-day irrigation interval. The flower-to-stigma conversion factor and water productivity achieved their peak values in the W2H1 treatment (0.98, 1.1, and 1.0 %, and 0.0018, 0.0020, and 0.0043 kg , respectively). Furthermore, the W2H1 treatment exhibited the highest concentrations of crocin (11.9 and 12.2 %), picrocrocin (6.7 and 5.8 %), and safranal (2.6 and 2.4 %) in the last two years of the experiment. This underscores the potential of hydrogel application in enhancing not only yield-related parameters but also the quality attributes of saffron.

中文翻译：

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超吸水性水凝胶在缺水条件下提高藏红花 (Crocus sativus L.) 产水量和品质的应用


缺水制度和使用吸湿材料的技术是干旱和半干旱地区实现可持续农业和水资源保护目标的主要途径。基于随机完整区组设计的裂区田间试验，在连续三个作物年（2015-16、2016-17 和 2017-18）期间，在托尔巴特·海达里赫大学藏红花研究所的研究农场进行了三次重复。主要小区由三种灌溉方案 20 (W1)、35 (W2) 和 50 天灌溉间隔 (W3) 组成，小小区包括不施用 (H0) 和施用超吸水性水凝胶 (H1)。研究结果表明，水凝胶的应用在实验年份中实现了植物叶数（分别为19.3、21.3和33.5）和干叶产量（分别为2291.9、3837、4979.5千克·公顷）的最高值在充分灌溉条件下（W1H1）。与浇水良好的条件相比，在缺水条件下使用水凝胶时，这些作物参数的改善显着更高。根据三年平均值，在 W3 处理中观察到水凝胶施用导致的叶子数量增加最多 (18.1%)，而在 W3 处理中观察到干叶产量增加最多 (24.8%)。 W2治疗。鲜花产量也在 W1H1 处理中达到峰值（分别为 776.5、1421.1 和 2074.8 千克公顷）。同样，干柱头产量在 W1H1 处理中达到最高值（分别为 6.3、11.2 和 17.0 kg ha）。而在实验年份中，由于水凝胶的应用，上述两个性状的增幅最高（25.3 和 32.3）。当对藏红花植物进行 35 天的灌溉间隔时，分别获得了 9%。虽然 W1H1 处理显示出最高的球茎数（122.8、252.8 和 341.4）和球茎产量（19.8、31.7 和 45.1 t ha），但水凝胶在延长灌溉间隔下改善这些参数的效果更大，因此最高在 35 天的灌溉间隔下，球茎数量增加 (19.6%)，在 50 天的灌溉间隔下，球茎产量增加 (21.9%)。花到柱头的转换因子和水分生产力在W2H1处理中达到峰值（分别为0.98、1.1和1.0%，以及0.0018、0.0020和0.0043 kg）。此外，在实验的最后两年中，W2H1处理表现出最高浓度的藏红花素（11.9％和12.2％）、苦藏红花素（6.7％和5.8％）和番红花醛（2.6％和2.4％）。这强调了水凝胶应用的潜力，不仅可以提高藏红花的产量相关参数，还可以提高其质量属性。