MCR 514 Presentation 1

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology: Department of Crop Science
Crop Ecology MCR (514)
Mapfumo Trevor G. M23733Y
Mundanga Arnold M231015Q
Rupiya Lawrence
Presentation Topic
Discuss the application of AQUA in Crop Ecology as
Crop Simulation Model [30 Marks]

Presentation Layout
 Definition of key terms
 Brief description of AQUA and how the model works
 Application of AQUA as a Crop Simulation Model
 Aqua-Crop Geographical Coverage
 Evaluation of model applicability
 Advantages of the model
 Disadvantages of the model
 Conclusion
 References
Definition of Key Terms
 Aqua/Aqua-Crop: A menu-driven program with a well developed user
interface Raes et al., (2012).
 A crop water productivity model which describes the interactions between

the plant and the soil as the primary system (Salman et al., 2021).
 Crop ecology: Study of the relationship between crops and their

environment (Biology Online Dictionary, 2024).
 Crop Simulation Model: Valuable tool which aims to identify the

influence of environment on crop growth and development attained over
time (Kosmkar & Kulkarni, 2019).
Brief description of AQUA and how the model works
 Computer software with an interface between the user and the program,
launched in 2009 (Salman et al., 2021).
 Windows software consists of multiple graphs and schematic displays that

facilitates the user to analyse simulation results after input data has been fed.
 E.gs of input data (weather, crop type, irrigation and field management, soil
and groundwater characteristics etc.).
 Prior to running a simulation, user specifies in the Main menu the sowing
date, simulation period, appropriate environmental, initial and off-season
condition.
Aqua-Crop simulation
Simulates crop production in 4 main steps;
1. Development of the green Canopy Cover (CC): Foliage development

which is the fraction of the soil covered by crop canopy.
2. Crop transpiration (Tr): Water loss from the crop canopy and directly
proportional to CC.
3. Above-ground biomass (B)
4. Crop yield (Y)

Pictorial Appraisal of Aqua-Crop Main Menu
Application of Aqua-Crop as a Crop Simulation Model
 Implemented in 46 different crops, cereals being the targeted crops.
 Prediction of crop yield before harvesting depending on
environmental conditions.
 Crop management optimization.
 Climate change characterization: Model predict the impact of
climate variation on crop growth.
 Assist policy makers to frame better policies by analyzing the result
of these crop models.
 Simulation of crops under diverse agro-ecological and socio-
economic conditions.
Aqua-Crop Geographical Coverage
 Asia (42 percent) studies conducted
 Europe (23 percent) of the publications
 Africa ranks third (19 percent) of the publications
 America (15 percent)
 Oceania (1 percent)
Aqua-Crop Geographical Coverage
Source: Salman et al., (2021)

Evaluation of Aqua-Crop Applicability
 Well received by the scientific community with 334 research
publications devoted to Aqua-Crop in the first ten years from its
launch (Salman et al., 2021).
 Thirty-three (33) publications/year, second to APSIM (35
publications/year).
 CERES, DSSAT and EPIC models with 1055, 655 and 594
publications respectively since 2019.
 Implemented in 64 different countries across the world’s five
continents.
 Conclusively Aqua-Crop is currently one of the most commonly used
models in agricultural research.
Evaluation of Aqua-Crop Applicability
Source: Salman et al., (2021)

Advantages of Aqua-Crop Model
 Updates the soil water balance at each daily time step.
 Considers three thresholds for the water content in the root zone.
 Divides the soil profile into small compartments with their own soil
physical characteristics.
 Keeps track of the stresses which might develop in the root zone.
 Avoids the confounding effect of the non-productive consumption of

water (E) by separating evapo-transpiration (ET) into crop
transpiration (Tr) and soil evaporation (E).
 Simulates the above ground biomass (B) which integrates all
photosynthetic products assimilated by the crop during the season.
 Considers the electrical conductivity of the soil water (ECsw) in the

presence of water stress.
Used to quantify the effect of other irrigation, field and crop management
strategies on WPY (more crop per drop) in water-scarce regions
 Effective tool to identify optimal crop and water management strategies

under different scenarios.
 Distinction is made between biomass water productivity (wp) and
yield water productivity (WPY).
 The wp refers to the amount of biomass that can be obtained with a
certain quantity of water transpired.
 The WPY is the ratio of crop yield to evapo-transpiration.

Disadvantages of Aqua-Crop Model
 Efficacy based on complex biophysical processes to guarantee an
accurate crop simulation (Salman et al., (2021).
 Model limited to only a few of the major crops, more rigorous testing is
needed for some of the crops.
 Lacks interest in field data collection which is essential to model

parameterization.
 Soil spatial variability on yields under salinity conditions in the real

world makes hinders simulations verification under salinity conditions.
References
Kosamkar, P. K., & Kulkarni, V. Y., (2019). Agriculture Crop Simulation Models
Using Computational Intelligence, International Journal of Computer
Engineering and Technology 10(3), 2019, pp.134-140.
Raes, D., Steduto, P., Hsiao, T. C., & Fereres, E., (2012). Reference Manual.
FAO, Land and Water Division, Rome, Italy. Aqua-Crop Version 4.0.
Salman, M., García-Vila, M., Fereres, E., Raes, D. and Steduto, P. (2021). The
Aqua-Crop model – Enhancing crop water productivity. Tenyears of development,
dissemination and implementation 2009–2019. FAO Water Report No. 47.
Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7392en.
References Accessible on;
Aqua-Crop Zotero public library, which can be accessed online (
https://www.zotero.org/groups/368553/aquacrop_publications).
Biology Online Dictionary., (2024). https://www.biology

online.com/dictionary/crop
FAO website at: http://www.fao.org/aquacrop/en/

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Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology: Department of Crop Science

Crop Ecology MCR (514)

Mapfumo Trevor G. M23733Y

Mundanga Arnold M231015Q

Discuss the application of AQUA in Crop Ecology as

Crop Simulation Model [30 Marks]

 A crop water productivity model which describes the interactions between

 Crop ecology: Study of the relationship between crops and their

 Crop Simulation Model: Valuable tool which aims to identify the

 Windows software consists of multiple graphs and schematic displays that

Simulates crop production in 4 main steps;

1. Development of the green Canopy Cover (CC): Foliage development

3. Above-ground biomass (B)

4. Crop yield (Y)

 Asia (42 percent) studies conducted

 Europe (23 percent) of the publications

 Africa ranks third (19 percent) of the publications

 America (15 percent)

Source: Salman et al., (2021)

Source: Salman et al., (2021)

 Avoids the confounding effect of the non-productive consumption of

 Considers the electrical conductivity of the soil water (ECsw) in the

 Effective tool to identify optimal crop and water management strategies

 Distinction is made between biomass water productivity (wp) and

yield water productivity (WPY).

 The wp refers to the amount of biomass that can be obtained with a

certain quantity of water transpired.

 The WPY is the ratio of crop yield to evapo-transpiration.

 Lacks interest in field data collection which is essential to model

 Soil spatial variability on yields under salinity conditions in the real

Biology Online Dictionary., (2024). https://www.biology

FAO website at: http://www.fao.org/aquacrop/en/

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