Preliminary Assessment of Saffron Production in Different Growing Systems in Kentucky, USA
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The Journal of Living Architecture is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, published by the Green Infrastructure Foundation and hosted by the Living Architecture Monitor Magazine. Learn more about the Journal, read all Journal articles, or find out how to submit to the Journal.
Preliminary Assessment of Saffron Production in Different Growing Systems in Kentucky, USA
Volume 12 Number 2 Pages 12-27 2025
Pradip Poudel¹, Leigh J. Whittinghill²*, Hideka Kobayashi³, Shawn Lucas⁴
(1) Department of Food Science, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA. (2) Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. (3) College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY 40601, USA. (4) Middlebury Extension Office, University of Vermont Extension, 23 Pond Lane, Suite 300, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA. *Leigh J. Whittinghill: leigh.whittinghill@ct.gov
ABSTRACT
Saffron has the potential to become a sustainable, high-value crop for Kentucky farmers. Choosing an appropriate growing system and biofungicide treatment might increase saffron production and protect saffron from corm rot. Three growing systems (green roof modules, field conditions, and inside high tunnels) and three bio-fungicide (Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713) treatments (untreated control, 15.6 mL/L, and 31.2 mL/L) were used to grow saffron in 2019 and 2020 as a perennial crop. Biofungicide treatment did not affect studied variables (fresh flower weight, fresh stigma weight, dry stigma weight) in both 2019 and 2020. Higher saffron yield in 2020 might be due to the sandy coarse texture of green roof substrate which favors daughter corm production and growth. Lower yields within the high tunnels may be a result of the moisture-deficient condition induced by high temperatures during the critical growth stages. More research on soil moisture, temperature, precipitation, planting date, and bio-fungicide treatment could help optimize saffron production in Kentucky and neighboring areas in these growing systems.
Key words: Bacillus subtilis, corm treatment, green roof, harvest time, high tunnel, dry stigma
Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.46534/jliv.2025.12.02.012
This peer-reviewed article is provided free and open-access.
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