The use of irrigation in the cultivation of papaya is increasing in recent years. Thus, there is the need for
improved knowledge of the most appropriate irrigation scheduling practices to be adopted as well as the more
adequate estimation of crop water requirements. With this objective, the simulation model SIMDualKc was
adopted and calibrated. The model performs the calculation of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) with the
methodology of the dual crop coefficient (Kc = Kcb + Ke), i.e., using a basal crop coefficient to estimate crop
transpiration and an evaporation coefficient to estimation soil water evaporation. The research was conducted at
the Experimental Station of Irrigation and Drainage, located in Alquízar, Havana, Cuba. The experiments were
carried out between March and November 1997 with the papaya var. "Maradol red". The calibration consisted in
searching the crop factors relative to the different stages of crop development that minimize the differences
between the simulated and observed soil moisture content. Various goodness of fit indicators were used to
evaluate the model predictions. It can be concluded that the model was properly calibrated and can be used to
generate alternative irrigation schedules that improve water use and productivity of papaya in the considered soil
and climate condition
