AbstractWeed pressure is a serious impediment to saffron cultivation and can significantly affect floral and vegetative growth. The present investigation was conducted at Advanced Research Station for Saffron weed-free and weedy. All evaluated traits showed significant differences between weed regimes and germplasm lines. Weed-free conditions improved critical traits such as fresh pistil weight, dry pistil weight, pistil length, tepal dimensions, and corm diameter. Genotypes G24, G4, and G31 consistently showed higher mean values under both conditions; however, these findings indicate phenotypic responsiveness rather than confirmed weed tolerance. Correlation study indicated significant positive relationships between pistil weight and floral elongation traits, emphasising their importance in reproductive yield. The study highlights the importance of timely weed management in enhancing saffron productivity and identified germplasm lines with comparatively superior performance across variable weed environments. Further physiological or molecular studies are required to validate their stability under weed stress.
Ahngar et al. (Wed,) studied this question.