Optimizing the Sowing Date and Irrigation Strategy to Improve Maize Yield by Using CERES (Crop Estimation through Resource and Environment Synthesis)-Maize Model

Qaisar Saddique,Henry Chau,Muhammad Hassan,Jianqiang He,Hui Chen,Muhammad Chattha,Wajid Ishaque,Huanjie Cai,Muhammad Khan

doi:10.3390/agronomy9020109

Abstract

Summer maize (Zea mays L.) is a widely cultivated crop in the arid and semi-arid Guanzhong region of China. However, due to the spatial and temporal variation in rainfall, the seasonal maize yield varies substantially and occasionally is not economical for poor farmers to produce. Recent water-saving agricultural practices were developed by the government to make it possible to apply supplementary irrigation at optimum sowing dates to maximize maize production under limited rainfall in the region. CERES (Crop Estimation through Resource and Environment Synthesis)-maize model was used to identify the appropriate irrigation strategies, crop growth stages and sowing dates for sustainable maize production. Model calibration process were carried out for full irrigation treatments of four growing seasons, (2012–2015). The data used for calibration included: Crop phenology, grain yield, aboveground biomass and leaf area index. The calibration phase model showed good agreement between simulated and observed values, with normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) ranging from 4.51% to 14.5%. The performance of the calibrated model was evaluated using the field data of grain yield, aboveground biomass, leaf area index and water use efficiency. The performance of the model during evaluation was satisfactory with acceptable nRMSE error ranging from 7% to 10%. Soil moisture content was evaluated for full irrigation treatments for both 2012 and 2013 seasons. With results showing that soil moisture content below 35 cm layer was well simulated with nRMSE, 0.57 to 0.86 respectively. Appropriate simulated sowing dates for higher production and water productivity were from 14 to 24 June. The proper amount and timing of irrigation water application was 100 mm at the flowering stage, and 100 mm at the grain filling stage respectively. Summer maize yield can be improved by adjusting the sowing date and applying supplementary irrigation when precipitation cannot meet the crop water demand in the Guanzhong Plain.

Highlights

The scarcity of water resources is one of the major challenges in the world, for the main fresh water consumer, i.e., agriculture
The simulated anthesis date had a slight difference ranging from 1–3 days from the observed period with relative absolute error (RAE)
If that there was not much difference in yield from double irrigation scenario (I7) than full irrigation irrigation water resources are limited, it is essential to consider these two stages (flowering and application (Figure 7). These results show that the application of irrigation has an important impact grain filling) for irrigation application during the crop growth season

Summary

Introduction

The scarcity of water resources is one of the major challenges in the world, for the main fresh water consumer, i.e., agriculture. In the Guanzhong region, water resources are limiting for crop growth and are mainly dependent on monsoon precipitation, where above 60%–70%. Of the precipitation comes in around June and August This is not an appropriate time to meet water demands from a corn crop [2]. With the variability and uneven distribution of precipitation in China [3], the rainfall pattern is irregular in the Guanzhong plain [4]. This insufficient and irregular rainfall generally results in water scarcities and droughts. Water scarcities and uneven rainfall distribution are the primary limitations on the growth of agriculture in northwest

Objectives

Results

Conclusion