Simulation of Maize Growth under Variable Water Supply Situations

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 percent of full irrigation (FI) and rainfed. The experiment was conducted at the research farm of Water Technology Centre, IARI, New Delhi during kharif 2009 and 2010. Calibration was done using the data of 2009. Comparisons between simulated and observed parameters of canopy cover (CC), 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 (0.97 E 0.98 and 0.25 RMSE 0.46) in simulating the yield and biomass for all irrigation levels. Also, the simulations for canopy cover were in line with the observed values for all irrigation level. Thus, the AquaCrop model could be used to predict the Maize yield under variable irrigation scenarios.