In the Mediterranean region, careful management of water and nitrogen
utilization is required to achieve high crop yields in a sustainable and economic
way. Prediction models are useful tools for deriving site/region–specific optimum
management strategies for irrigation and nitrogen use. Yield-SAFE, a simple and
robust model for growth and resource use in agroforestry systems, simulates crop
yields under rainfed and irrigated conditions. This paper represents a refined
calibration with respect to the fluxes of water, based on, data from an
irrigation/fertilisation experiment with maize in the South-East of Turkey. The
model performs satisfactorily and further development will includede nitrogen
leaching calibration and validation

Cevat, K.

Herzog, F.

Mayus, M.

Palma, J.H.N.

Topcu, S.

English

Universidade Técnica de Lisboa

Modelling for water management: first calibration of yield-SAFE for irrigated maize in Mediterranean regions

UTL Repository

Modelling forWater Management: First Calibration ofYield-SAFE for irrigated maize in Mediterranean regionsMartina Mayus1, Joãoã Palma2, Sevilay Topcu3, Cevat Kirda3, Felix Herzog2, Hermanvan Keulen4, Karel Keesman5 and Wopke van der Werf61Institute of Crop production and Grassland Research,University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstrasse 23,D-70599 Stuttgart,2AgroscopeAgroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station,Reckenholzstrasse 191,8046 Zurich, Switzerland;3 Sevilay Topçu and Cevat KirdaCukurova Üniversitesi,Ziraat Fakültesi, Adana, Turkey;4Wageningen University, Group Plant Production Systems,P.O. Box 430, 6700 AKWageningen, The Netherlands;5Wageningen University, Systems & Control Group,P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands;6Wageningen University, Group Crop & Weed Ecology,P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands j1mayus@uni-hohenheim.deAbstract: In the Mediterranean region, careful management of water and nitrogenutilization is required to achieve high crop yields in a sustainable and economicway. Prediction models are useful tools for deriving site/region–specific optimummanagement strategies for irrigation and nitrogen use. Yield-SAFE, a simple androbust model for growth and resource use in agroforestry systems, simulates cropyields under rainfed and irrigated conditions. This paper represents a refinedcalibration with respect to the fluxes of water, based on, data from anirrigation/fertilisation experiment with maize in the South-East of Turkey. Themodel performs satisfactorily and further development will includede nitrogenleaching calibration and validation.1 IntroductionPresently, innovation for sustainable resource use as well as increasing its efficiency aregetting wide attention. There are several reasons for this: an increasing demand forconservation of resources to achieve better sustainability; mitigation of drought problemsthat might result in some areas, especially on regions from climate change; theenvironmental problems due to excess of nutrient in soils; and the expected increase ofdemand for bio-energy and agriculture-derived raw products for industrial processing.Models for resource utilization in agricultural systems can help to explore - for differentregions - locally adapted resource-efficient farming systems like precision farming,mixed cropping system or innovative irrigation systems [1]. Mixed cropping systems caninclude systems that mix crops and trees, i.e. agroforestry. Long term predictions are143needed to assess the long term economic profitability and environmental sustainability ofsuch farming systems.In water–scarce regions, it is necessary to save irrigation water and, thereby, increasecrop water-use efficiency to maintain production [2]. In addition, nitrogen leaching, as aresult of inappropriate fertilizer and irrigation management is a problem. Predictionmodels can be used to optimize the application rate and timing of water and fertilizerspecific to the crop species, production aims and local conditions. In the present studythe water module of the prediction model Yield-SAFE (Yield Estimator for Long termDesign of Silvoarable AgroForestry in Europe) [3] was calibrated and tested against dataof an irrigation experiment with maize in the Mediterranean region.2 Material and Methods2.1 Model descriptionYield-SAFE [3] is a simple biophysical model for predicting long term crop and treeyields in monoculture and mixed systems. The model comprises few equations andparameters to attain sufficient model robustness for prediction purposes underconstrained data availability. For the simulation of a monoculture crop four stateequations are involved: biomass, leaf area, heat sum, available soil water. The modelsimulates growth and yield as a function of resource capture and resource use efficiency.Available soil water is computed considering precipitation, irrigation, drainage and soilevaporation. Nutrient dynamics are not included in the model because the involvedprocesses are complex and would require heavy parameterization. Instead, the nitrogendemand corresponding to the water-limited yields is computed using the “TripleQuadrant-approach” [4, 5] which estimates the effect of fertilizer application on cropyields, based on two relations: 1) between nitrogen application and uptake and 2)between uptake and crop yield (invariable per crop species). Finally, nitrogen leachingcan be quantified from model predictions on nitrogen recovery and water flow to thegroundwater [6]. The model has been evaluated in terms of biomass production ofsummer and winter cereals and four tree species in Atlantic and Mediterranean regions[7].2.2 The experimental dataThe experimental data were obtained from an irrigated maize field during the growingseasons of 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005 at the Research Fields of Cukurova University,Adana, Turkey [2]. The area has a typical Mediterranean climate with an average annualrainfall of 650 mm. Soils are with fine textured soils. In 2002, the irrigation water useefficiency was about 27 kg ha-1 mm-1 for the irrigation treatment in which soil-watercontent in the root zone was replenished to field capacity at each irrigation event. Theplanting density of hybrid maize was 79000 plants ha-1. The data used for the calibrationwere derived from a well fertilized treatment. The measurements comprise: daily144weather, weekly soil water contents, and relevant soil physical characteristics, plantphysiological measurements, crop yields and leaf area development. The crop and soilparameters were adapted for maize, the Mediterranean climate and the soil type. Thesimulation runs were performed for the water limited production level.3 Results and ConclusionsThe simulation results of the year 2002 are presented in Figures 1 and 2, showing thecrop development (Figure 1) and the course of the soil water content (Figure 2) duringthe growing season 2002, respectively. The simulation slightly overestimated the totalaerial dry matter, but there was a good agreement between simulated and observedgrowth pattern of biomass and Leaf Area Index (LAI). The simulated values of soilwater content were close to the measured values. Moreover, the alternating drying andwetting cycles of the soil, i.e. the sudden change of soil water content after irrigation(replenishing to field capacity in the root zone) followed by drying of the soil till thefollowing irrigation event, was well simulated (Figure 2).Dry Matter0510152025301 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101 111 121Day After PlantingDryMatter(ton/ha)YieldSAFEDryMatter Mearsured DryMatterLeaf Area Index0123451 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101 111 121Day After PlantingCropYield(ton/ha)YieldSAFELAI Measured LAIFigure 1: Simulated (line) and measured (dots) dry matter and Leaf Area Index (LAI) of hybridmaize, in 2002 at the Cukurova Research Fields, Turkey.Water content (% vol)00.10.20.30.40.51 13 25 37 49 61 73 85 97 109 121Day After PlantingVolwatercontentYieldSAFE Measured145Figure 2: Simulated (line) and measured (dots) volumetric soil water content in 1 m depth of amaize field, in 2002 at the Cukurova Research Fields, TurkeyThis paper describes the first calibration of the water module of Yield-SAFE using dataof an irrigated maize field under semi-arid conditions. The model satisfactorily describesthe water dynamics in a soil of the experimental maize field at the Cukurova researchstation. Improved quantification of water capture and losses allows more accurate yieldpredictions (Figures not shown). For generic use the model has to be tested for manydifferent growing conditions. In a next step the belowground module will be calibratedand validated for the Atlantic region (Stuttgart, Germany) including nitrogen leaching.References[1] van Noordwijk, M. and Cadisch, G.: Access and excess problems in plant nutrition. Plantand Soil, 2002, 247: pp. 25-40.[2] Kirda, C.; Topcu, S.; Kaman, H.; Ulger, A.C.; Yazici, A.; Cetin, M., Derici, M.R.: Grainyield response and N-fertilizer recovery of maize under deficit irrigation. Field CropsResearch, 2005; pp. 132-141.[3] van der Werf, W.; Keesman, K.; Burgess, P., Graves, A.; Pilbeam, D.; Incoll, L.;Metselaar, K.; Mayus, M.; Stappers, R.; van Keulen, H.; Palma, J.; Dupraz, C.: Yield-SAFE: a parameter-sparse process-based dynamic model for predicting resource capture,growth and yield production in agroforestry systems, 2006: in press.[4] van Keulen, H.: Graphical analysis of annual crop response to fertilizer application.Agricultural Systems. 1982, 9: pp. 113-126.[5] van Keulen, H. and Wolf, J.: Crop production as determined by nutrient availability,Modelling of agricultural production: Weather soils, and crops. Simulation Monographs:Pudoc, Wageningen, 1986: pp. 153-181.[6] Palma, J.; Graves, A.; Bunce, R., Burgess, P.; de Filippi, R.; Keesman, K., van Keulen,H., Liagre, F., Mayus, M.; Moreno, G.; Reisner, Y.; Herzog, F.: Modellingenvironmental benefits of silvoarable agroforestry in Europe, Agriculture, Ecosystemsand Environment, 2006: in press.[7] Graves, A.R., Burgess, P.J.; Palma, J.H.N.; Herzog, F.; Moreno, G.; Bertomeu, M.;Dupraz, C.; Liagre, F.; Keesman, K.; van der Werf, W.; Koeffeman de Nooy, A.; vanden Briel, J.P.: The development and application of bio-economic modelling forsilvoarable systems in Europe. Ecological Engineering, 2006: in press.146

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Modelling for water management: first calibration of yield-SAFE for irrigated maize in Mediterranean regions

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