Wheat Yield Modelling using Infocrop and DSSAT Crop Simulation Models

Abstract

Background: Wheat is an important crop of India That is grown in the winter season (October to April). A field study was conducted for nine plots having a dimension of 3 × 2 meter and different nutrient was applied to test the biomass yield. The objectives are to describe (a): To conduct field experiments under controlled conditions and vary the dosage of fertilizers for different treatments. (b): To observe the variation in crop yield of wheat with different dosages of fertilizers. (c): To model the crop yield of different treatments using InfoCrop and DSSAT crop models. Methods: An experiment was conducted for Wheat crop having a dimension of 3 × 2 meter at the Indian Institute of Technology, UK-India. Three plots (C1, C2, C3) was given control fertilizer supply while plot (F1, F2, F3) given -25%, +25%, +50% and plot (N1, N2, N3) given -25%, +25%, +50% w.r.t to control. The simulation model Infocrop and DSSAT were simulated to check test the model. Result: In this study, two crop simulation models namely Infocrop and DSSAT were used to predict the yield of wheat crops. Field experiments were carried out at a farm site at Roorkee, India and different treatments of fertilizers are applied to the field plots. In total, seven fertilizer treatments are used: C (controlled with a normal dosage of fertilizers), F1, F2, F3 (varying amount of applied farmyard manure), N1, N2 and N3 (varying amount of applied urea). The objective of the study was to evaluate yields of the seven treatments using Infocrop and DSSAT crop models and compare them to the observed values of yields. The grain yield of the controlled treatment (C1, C2, C3) was predicted accurately by both models. There was a significant variation in the grain yields of the F1, F2, F3 treatments with the application of farm yard manure (FYM). DSSAT under-predicted the grain yields for the plot F1, F2, F3 treatments and over-predicted these for N1, N2, N3 treatments. Overall, Infocrop, which was developed and validated for Indian conditions, simulated the grain yield more accurately as compared to the DSSAT model under varying applications of FYM and urea dosages.