Assessment of AquaCrop model for simulating forage maize yield along the furrow

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

The growth and development of crop models such as AquaCrop model is the most important tools for decision-making and predicting crop yields. The aim of this research was to assess AquaCrop model for simulating spatial variability of forage maize yield along the furrow. Four treatments for calibration and validation of the model were investigated based on the percentage of supplied crop water requirement at the end of furrow (100, 75, 50 and 25 percent of full irrigation at the end of furrow). Full irrigation and deficit irrigation treatments were considered for model calibration and validation, respectively.  The full irrigation treatment had the lowest coefficient of variation for observed forage maize biomass and crop yield (9.0 and 12.1 %, respectively) and simulated forage maize biomass and crop yield (6.5 and 6.8 % respectively). Indicators of RMSE and NRMSE for simulation of maize biomass were 1.6 ton/ha and 10.1 % in the calibration stage and 1.5 ton/ha and 11.9 % in the validation stage, respectively. The results of this study indicated that the AquaCrop model can be applied for simulation of forage maize biomass along the furrow.

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