STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF SOIL PROPERTIES WHICH INFLUENCE SAFFRON GROWTH IN KASHMIR

Against the background of the great similarity of the general properti es and mineralogical composition of Serozems and Gray-Cinnamon Brown s oils of Kashmir, soils which are favorable for growing saffron are dis tinguished by the least weathered material with high totals and simila r reserves of potassium and magnesium. Such soils are identified by a linear discriminant function which includes four properties of only th e upper horizons (0-20 cm): pH, dithionite-soluble iron, sodium, and p otassium in Maslova extract.