Abstract
Abstract Crop productivity evaluation with models simulations can help in the prediction of harvests and in the understanding of the interactions resulting from the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. The aim of this study was to calibrate and validate the AquaCrop model for maize crop in the edaphoclimatic conditions of Campos Gerais region, Paraná State, Brazil. The analyses were carried out for maize crop with model input data (climate, crop, soil and soil management) obtained from the ABC Foundation Experimental Station in Castro, Ponta Grossa and Socavão. The climate in the region is humid subtropical, with rainfall evenly distributed. The relief varies from flat to gently undulating. The period analyzed in the calibration and validation process comprised 2011 to 2016 and 2012 to 2016 harvests, respectively. The data used in the calibration of AquaCrop was different from those used in the validation process. Observed and simulated yields were evaluated by simple linear regression analyses, absolute and relative errors, correlation coefficient (r), concordance (d) and performance (c) indexes. The calibration of AquaCrop was satisfactory in the locations studied for maize crop, obtaining absolute errors varying from 6 to 121 kg ha–1. The highest calibration errors occurred in Castro. However, the errors were not enough to reduce the performance in the validation process for this localitie. The model validation resulted in “excellent” performance in all locations evaluated. The AquaCrop can be used to predict the maize yield with acceptable accuracy in the Campos Gerais Region, Paraná State, Brazil.
Highlights
The Campos Gerais, Paraná State, is an important agricultural region that presents yields higher than the national grain production average (IBGE, 2017)
Surveys have been managed in the Campos Gerais region to understand the influence of environmental variations on crop yields and water relations, as well as to suggest agricultural management alternatives to increase crop production (Araujo et al 2009, Araujo et al 2011, Souza et al 2013, Souza et al 2014, Pierri et al 2016)
Water intakes in the model were computed by rainfall. Both calibration and validation, the soil water content in the model was considered equal to the total available water (TAW), the amount of water a soil can hold between field capacity (FC) and permanent wilting point (PWP) in the root zone (Raes et al 2018b)
Summary
The Campos Gerais, Paraná State, is an important agricultural region that presents yields higher than the national grain production average (IBGE, 2017). For maize crop, the region is a pioneer in the adoption of new technologies that allow increasing yields even more (Schimandeiro et al 2008, IBGE, 2017). Surveys have been managed in the Campos Gerais region to understand the influence of environmental variations on crop yields and water relations, as well as to suggest agricultural management alternatives to increase crop production (Araujo et al 2009, Araujo et al 2011, Souza et al 2013, Souza et al 2014, Pierri et al 2016). Technological advances in software allow conducting tests and experiments, availing data already collected, wrapping few people, low cost, speed, creation and guessing of ideal scenarios to assist in decision making for public and private sectors (Jones et al 2017)
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