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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #389342
Research Project: Management Practices for Long Term Productivity of Great Plains Agriculture

Location: Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research

Title: A novel mechanism to simulate intercropping and relay cropping using the DayCent model

Author
item DELLA CHIESA, TOMAS - Universidad De Buenos Aires
item Del Grosso, Stephen - Steve
item HARTMAN, MELANNIE - Colorado State University
item PARTON, WILLIAM - Colorado State University
item ECHARTE, LAURA - National University Of Mar Del Plata
item YAHDJIAN, LAURA - Universidad De Buenos Aires
item PIÑEIRO, GERVASIO - Universidad De Buenos Aires

Submitted to: Ecological Modeling
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/27/2021
Publication Date: 1/3/2022
Citation: Della Chiesa, T., Del Grosso, S.J., Hartman, M., Parton, W., Echarte, L., Yahdjian, L., Piñeiro, G. 2022. A novel mechanism to simulate intercropping and relay cropping using the DayCent model. Ecological Modeling. 465. Article e109869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109869.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109869

Interpretive Summary: Field trials show that growing more than one crop at a time can increase resource use efficiency and reduce negative environmental impacts in croplands. Computer models are useful tools to explore new management strategies and novel crop combinations in varied landscapes under different weather scenarios. However, most widely used models cannot represent two or more crops growing simultaneously. We adapted DayCent, a popular model used to analyze greenhouse gas emissions on croplands, to simulate two crop types growing at the same time. We adapted the savanna mode of DayCent which is traditionally used to represent single crop and tree species growing simultaneously by changing several tree parameters to mimic crop growth. Our results showed good agreements with measured plant growth and grain yield collected in a long-term corn/soy intercropping experiment. DayCent can now represent several crop combinations and be used to further explore agronomic and environmental performance of novel agricultural systems.

Technical Abstract: Combining different crops in complex spatial and temporal arrangements can increase resource use efficiency and reduce negative environmental impacts in croplands. Simulation models are useful tools to explore new management strategies and crop combinations in varied landscapes under different weather scenarios. However, models that allow simulations of two or more crops growing simultaneously, such as inter-crop or relay-crop systems, are scarce. We adapted DayCent, one of the most widely used models to analyze greenhouse gas emissions on croplands, to simulate two crop types growing at the same time by using the existing savanna scheme which was designed to represent single crop and tree species growing simultaneously and competing for light and nutrients. We changed several tree parameters in the savanna scheme that allowed us to simulate two crop species growing simultaneously without modifying model code. Our results show good agreements with standard single crop simulations of different key variables and with measured aboveground biomass and grain yield collected in a long-term intercropping experiment. A sensitivity analysis showed that the parameters that control the effect on leaf-area-index are more important than those that control the competitiveness among crops. DayCent can now represent several crop combinations for both inter-cropping and relay-cropping schemes and be used to explore both agronomic and environmental performance of novel agricultural systems.