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Simulation of alfalfa yield with AquaCrop

Author

Listed:
  • Raes, Dirk
  • Fereres, Elias
  • García Vila, Margarita
  • Curnel, Yannick
  • Knoden, David
  • Çelik, Sema Kale
  • Ucar, Yusuf
  • Türk, Mevlüt
  • Wellens, Joost

Abstract

The AquaCrop simulation model, originally designed for annual crops, is expanded here to simulate alfalfa, a perennial forage crop. A new routine was added to the model to mimic the assimilate partitioning between above and below-ground plant parts to account for the utilization of reserves in Spring and for their storage in the Fall. The simulation of the transfer of assimilates requires only three extra crop parameters which makes the model also easy to calibrate. To evaluate the model, yield data collected in Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgium), Isparta (Turkey), and Ottawa (Canada) for different alfalfa cultivars, various years and field and irrigation management strategies were used. To assess the accuracy and robustness of the simple assimilate remobilization process, simulations were run for the three different environments with a common set of crop parameters which were parameterized. The dispersion between the observed and simulated cumulative dry above-ground biomass during the growing cycle was small (r² = 0.97; nRMSE = 11%; Nash-Sutcliffe model EF = 0.97), and a systematic over- or underestimation by the model was not observed (Willmott’s index of agreement, d = 0.99). When evaluating the goodness of fit of the 81 individual harvest events, the results were still very satisfactory although the nRMSE doubled. The simulations indicated that the AquaCrop model adapted to perennial crops and with a novel storage-remobilization routine, could predict well alfalfa yields in various climates and environments, with and without water and fertility stress, and for three different alfalfa cultivars.

Suggested Citation

  • Raes, Dirk & Fereres, Elias & García Vila, Margarita & Curnel, Yannick & Knoden, David & Çelik, Sema Kale & Ucar, Yusuf & Türk, Mevlüt & Wellens, Joost, 2023. "Simulation of alfalfa yield with AquaCrop," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:284:y:2023:i:c:s0378377423002068
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108341
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Soumyashree Dixit & V. Neethin & K. V. Jayakumar, 2023. "Assessment of Crop-Drought Relationship: A Climate Change Perspective," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(10), pages 4075-4095, August.
    2. Ewa Panek-Chwastyk & Ceren Nisanur Ozbilge & Katarzyna Dąbrowska-Zielińska & Konrad Wróblewski, 2024. "Assessment of Grassland Biomass Prediction Using AquaCrop Model: Integrating Sentinel-2 Data and Ground Measurements in Wielkopolska and Podlasie Regions, Poland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, May.

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