Simulation of Maize Growth under Different Water and Nitrogen levels using AquaCrop Model

Crop growth simulation models of varying complexity have been developed for predicting the effects of soil, water and nutrient on crop and biomass yields. All such models must be calibrated and validated with experimental data before using for subsequent simulation and scenario generation. In this study, the model AquaCrop was calibrated for maize crop under four irrigation regimes namely, full irrigation (FI), 75 and 50 precent of full irrigation (FI) and rainfed and three nitrogen levels (viz. not fertilized, 75 and 150 kg N ha−1) as sub plots, with three replication. The experiment was conducted at the research farm of Water Technology Centre, IARI, New Delhi during kharif 2009. Comparisons between simulated and observed parameters above ground biomass and grain yield were made for model calibration. The model efficiency (E) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) were used to test the model accuracy. It was observed that the model performed well (0.97yield and biomass for all irrigation levels. AquaCrop model calibration results for grain yield, above ground biomass and water productivity (WP) under full irrigation treatment resulted in highest accuracy (0.84%), (1.82 %) and (2.35%) respectively. Thus, the AquaCrop model could be used to predict the Maize yield under variable irrigation scenarios.

کلیدواژه ها:

AquaCrop model ، irrigation ، calibration ، yield ، maize