Agriculture, Environment & Society

Agriculture, Environment & Society

Simulating spring wheat growth under simultaneous salinity and water stress using the AquaCrop model

Document Type : Original research article

Authors
Masoud Mohammadi 1
Somayeh Galdavi 2
Hadi Dehghan 2
1 PhD graduate, Water Science and Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, ‎Mashhad, Iran
2 Department of Water Sciences and Engineering, Kashmar Higher Education Institute, Kashmar, Iran
10.22034/jelsa.2024.460636.1072
Abstract
Crop growth simulation models are developed to predict the effects of different factors, including water and salinity on grain, biomass yields, and water efficiency of various crops. These models are typically calibrated and validated for specific regions based on the availability of measured field data. In this research, spring wheat growth under simultaneous salinity and water stress was Simulated using the AquaCrop model. Calibration and validation were conducted using data from 2010 and 2011, respectively. Results indicate that AquaCrop accurately simulated spring wheat yield, biomass, water use efficiency, and harvest index under salinity and water-limiting conditions. The simulation of harvest index and soil salinity profiles was less precise compared to other characteristics. The mean values of NRMSE, ME, d, CRM, and R2 for grain yield were 13.3%, 36.1%, 0.95, -0.072, and 0.87, respectively in both calibration and verification. For biomass, these measures were 12.59%, 34.46%, 0.92, 0.057, and 0.77, separately. The corresponding values for the soil moisture profile were 11.84%, 25.72%, 0.93, and 0.032, while for the soil salinity profile, they were 26.25%, 58.5%, 0.91, and -0.12, respectively. The most sensitive parameters included the crop transpiration coefficient, normalized crop water productivity, reference harvest index, volumetric water content at field capacity, soil water content at saturation, and temperature.

Highlights

  • The AquaCrop model accurately simulated spring wheat yield, biomass, and water use efficiency, under salinity and water stress conditions.
  • The model was sensitive to parameters like crop transpiration coefficient, and normalized crop water productivity, at field capacity and saturation.
  • The model's simulation of soil salinity was less precise compared to other variables.
  • AquaCrop's evaluation was based on two years of field data and demonstrated its applicability for analyzing and forecasting salinity and water stress in spring wheat.
  • The model's simplicity requirements make it suitable for evaluating various irrigation scenarios and optimizing water usage in spring wheat cultivation.

Keywords
Biomass
Environmental stress
Plant modelling
Sensitivity analysis
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  • Receive Date 02 March 2023
  • Revise Date 02 May 2023
  • Accept Date 09 May 2023