Calibration & validation of Aquacrop model for wheat crop in Tarai region of Uttarakhand

Abstract

The research was carried out in order to calibrate & validate FAO developed AquaCrop model for Tarai region of Uttarakhand. The calibration was performed against grain and biomass yield of wheat crop for the three treatments of sowing dates viz., 3rd December, 18th December and 3rd January. A set of conservative parameters were obtained after calibrating the Aquacrop model. The calibrated Aquacrop model was then applied to validate wheat yield and biomass for three consecutive years viz., 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13. Results showed that winter wheat yield & biomass can be simulated with relative accuracy using Aquacrop model. Overall, the agreement between simulated and observed wheat grain yield was satisfactory with correlation coefficient =0.94, RMSE =0.27,. On the basis of statistical indicators it can be concluded that the model mode fitted the observed data set very well. The simplicity of AquaCrop in its required minimum input data, which are readily available or can easily be collected, makes it user-friendly.