SALTMED Model Performance on Simulation of Soil Moisture and Crop Yield for Quinoa Irrigated Using Different Irrigation Systems, Irrigation Strategies and Water Qualities in Turkey

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The effective usage of limited water resources and ensuring of agricultural sustainability especially in case of using poor quality water for irrigation in arid and semiarid regions require a good irrigation management and management tools. The SALTMED model has been developed as an integrated model that can simulate soil moisture, salinity distribution, leaching requirements and crop yield by considering irrigation systems, soil types, crops, water application strategies and different water qualities. The objective of this research was to evaluate the SALTMED model performance on simulation of soil moisture, total dry matter and yield of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. var. Titicaca grown in the Mediterranean region of Turkey under different irrigation methods, irrigation strategies and water qualities (fresh, saline and drainage water). For this purpose, field data from two different locations, Tarsus and Adana, were used in SALTMED Model. Different irrigation treatments with drip irrigation system consist of full and deficit irrigation using fresh water, full and deficit irrigation using saline water at ECw 30, 20 and 10 dS m-1 salinity levels, and partial root drying (PRD) with fresh water along with rainfed (DRY) treatment were considered in Adana study. In Tarsus, line-source sprinkler system was used to create four irrigation levels (full and three deficit irrigation treatments) using drainage canal water. The field experiments results were compared with simulation results on soil moisture, grain and dry matter yield. The model was able to simulate with good precision, soil moisture values, total dry matter and grain yield for quinoa under various irrigation strategies, irrigation methods, and different water quality conditions for quinoa grown in the Mediterranean environment.