Saffron corm and stigma yields, irrigation and economic water productivities, corm nitrogen use efficiency and saffron-plant-nitrogen-acquisition efficiency in manure application surpassed respectively by 21, 25, 20, 17, 39 and 49% compared with the chemical source of nitrogen. Manure application showed 9, 8 and 9% increase in the concentration of corm nitrogen, phosphorus and protein, respectively, in comparison to urea application treatment. ![]() Moreover, manure application indicated 12, 42, 50 and 46% lower amounts of drained water, leachate nitrate nitrogen concentration, total leached nitrogen and N losses (other than N leaching), respectively, in comparison to the urea source of nitrogen showing the lower risk of groundwater nitrate pollution. ![]() The optimum irrigation regime was experienced at 60% ET c (with irrigation application efficiency of 60%, equivalent to 100%ET c) where the highest saffron and wheat nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) uptake, nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) harvest indices, nutrient acquisition and use efficiencies, corm, saffron, and grain yields and lowest nitrogen loss was achieved. During four years of study, in a set of lysimeters, effects of two cropping systems (saffron mono-cropping and saffron–wheat intercropping), application of two sources of nitrogen (organic cow manure and chemical granular urea) and four irrigation regimes on plant nitrogen and phosphorus uptake, nitrogen leaching and nitrogen and phosphorus efficiencies were investigated. Saffron growers can make a sustainable use of the saffron inter-row spaces through the strategy of winter-wheat/saffron base intercropping system to reduce nitrate leaching. But so far, there has been no study on the reduction of nitrate leaching from saffron fields through intercropping. The ever-rising trend of nitrate leaching from the agricultural production systems is a major risk to the contamination of ground- and surface-waters and should be addressed.
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