Simulation of atrazine leaching in relation to water-table management using the CERES model

There is a lack of models to predict the effect of water-table management on pesticide leaching. The objective was to modify CERES (Crop Estimation through Resource and Environmental Synthesis), a soil-crop-atmosphere model, to be a decision-making tool for water-table management in relation to pesticide leaching. CERES is a functional model that simulates all basic plant and soil processes with moderate data and hardware requirements. Data from five field lysimeters planted with maize (Zea maysL.) and sprayed with atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine) were collected to calibrate the model. The water-table in the lysimeters was raised and drained at two different growing stages and for two different durations. Simulation results for soil water content and atrazine were reasonable. Simulation can be used to estimate the leaching intensity, a decision criterion to select strategies to mitigate environmental impact.