Sanitary assessment of saffron corms and soil from Great Moroccan production areas: Taliouine and Taznakht

F. Bentata, M. Lage, K. Bakhy, M. Ibrahimi, A. Jbair, A. El Aissami, K.H. Kissayi, M. Labhilili
A<i>bstract</i>

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world because it has many virtues. The conduct of its culture differs from one area to another depending on climate, soil conditions. Currently in Morocco, its culture is localized in a small area of the Anti-Atlas in Taliouine/Taznakht region whose yield varies widely from year to year. Unfortunately, this is due to several problems, including the development of necrosis at the corms of saffron and causing the death of the plant. Our study is to analyze the health of the soil and corms of saffron from the Taliouine and Taznakht region and determine the agents responsible for these attacks. At first, results showed that there is presence of different fungi in collected samples, either soil or corms of saffron. After identification of these fungi, we have determined the following species: Rhizoctonia violacea and Fusarium oxysporum which are responsible for root rot disease or death. Other fungi have been isolated but their identification is underway, since it requires other more selective media and a lot of time to confirm their identity.

Bentata, F., Lage, M., Bakhy, K., Ibrahimi, M., Jbair, A., El Aissami, A., Kissayi, K.H. and Labhilili, M. (2017). Sanitary assessment of saffron corms and soil from Great Moroccan production areas: Taliouine and Taznakht. Acta Hortic. 1184, 263-266
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1184.37
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1184.37
saffron, soil, corms, necrosis, Morocco, sanitary state
English

Acta Horticulturae