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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 4/30/2014 Publication Date: 4/30/2014 Citation: Evett, S.R. 2014. Irrigation modeling with AquaCrop. Water and Irrigation Efficiency and Technology Meeting. Paper No. 17. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: AquaCrop is a crop water productivity model developed by the Land and Water Division of UN-FAO. It simulates yield response to water of herbaceous crops, and is suited to address conditions where water is a key limiting factor in crop production. AquaCrop attempts to balance accuracy, simplicity, and robustness. It uses a relatively small number of parameters and input variables requiring simple methods for their determination. It can be used to estimate attainable crop yields under water-limited conditions, develop irrigation schedules, including deficit and supplemental irrigations, and evaluate water and fertilizer effects on yields. AquaCrop represents an advance over previous models of crop water use efficiency in that it explicitly separates crop water use (ET) into transpiration through plants (useful for yield formation) and evaporation from the soil surface (water lost without benefit to yield). AquaCrop uses canopy cover rather than attempting to model leaf area index. Because of this, the more easily measured canopy cover can be used by farmers as input into the model. AquaCrop also models effects on crop growth and yield of temperature, salinity and mineral nutrient deficits. This presentation focused on the key aspects of AquaCrop that make it useful for estimating effects of different irrigation strategies in the water-limited and oft salinity prone conditions of the Middle East. Participants were shown how to download and install the model. A demonstration of AquaCrop for a cucumber crop was run to observe how the model functions. |
