Simulation of maize crop under irrigated and rainfed conditions with CROPWAT model

摘要

CROPWAT is an irrigation management and planning model simulating the complex relationships of on-farm parameters the climate, crop and soil. The CROPWAT facilitate the estimate of the crop evapotranspiration, irrigation schedule and agricultural water requirements with different cropping patterns for irrigation planning. The field experimental data of maize crop from the Mardan district of NWFP, Pakistan were collected and analyzed, then input the results to the CROPWAT irrigation management model that was developed by the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO). The aim of this paper is to study CROPWAT simulation under irrigated and rainfed conditions for maize crop, in order to provide information necessary in taking decisions on irrigation management. The model, that calculates Evapotranspiration and crop water requirements, allows the development of recommendations for improved irrigation practices, the planning of irrigation schedules under varying water supply conditions and yields reduction under various conditions. For the purpose of this paper, the model was run for the specific weather conditions of the year 2006, at two demonstration plots located in Mardan district of NWFP, Pakistan. Simulation results analysis suggests that areas, where the maize water requirements exceeds the water supply, by application of adequate irrigation scheduling the yield losses can be significantly reduced.