Abstract
Gum ammoniacum (Dorema ammoniacum D. Don) is one of the most important food, industrial and medicinal plants of Iran which is mainly distributed in semi-arid and desert areas. It is endangered due to superfluous and unsustainable harvesting methods. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of crop cultivation in terms of dryland farming and the best operation method for collecting gum resin. For this purpose, the effects of different scarification methods (traditional, concave and staircase) and cut-off frequencies (5, 10 and 13 times) on gum yield of the five-year-old plants were studied at Toroq farm in Mashhad. The treatments were studied under a split plot structure in time experiment which was arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications. The rate of the root gum production and the rate of plant survival in the years after the withdrawal were measured, and finally the data were analyzed. Results showed no significant differences among cutting methods at p<0.05. The yield of gum was affected by times of harvesting and the highest yield was observed (p<0.01) in 13 cut-off times with 31.67 g/plant. The lowest gum yields were seen in 5 cut-off times with 5.84 g/plant. The traditional cutting method destroyed crown buds and caused the death of the plant (p<0.01). Reasonable gum yields and plant regeneration rates were obtained with the use of stairs method which is an easy method to be applied by the farmers or beneficiaries.
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