Developing a dynamic yield and growth model for maize under various water and nitrogen regimes

Abstract

Better irrigation and nitrogen (N) scheduling and more efficient management of crop production require modeling of plant growth and crop yield. Models become more applicable if they are simple and require less and accessible inputs. The objective of this study was to use simple equations of soil water budget, evapotranspiration (ET), leaf area index (LAI), yield, and harvest index (HI)–transpiration function to develop a model for the prediction of growth and yield of maize under various water and N rates. The model was calibrated based on given data under sprinkler irrigation and verified based on independent data under furrow irrigation. The comparison between predicted and measured values of different crop parameters did not show any significant difference and the model was able to estimate LAI, ET, soil water content, HI, dry matter, and grain yield properly. Furthermore, an equation was presented to predict daily dry matter accumulation by a logistic curve for different water and N applications. It was concluded that the presented simple model was able to predict crop yield quite well and hence could be used for farm irrigation and N scheduling and management of both. Furthermore, the relationship between LAI and ET may be different in various environmental conditions that should be considered in using the model.

Keywords:

• maize modeling
• grain yield
• total dry matter
• evapotranspiration
• leaf area index

Funding

This research was supported in part by Shiraz University Research Council [grant no. 92-GR-AGR-42]; Drought National Research Institute; and Center of Excellence on Farm Water Management.