Assessment of a crop growth-water balance model for predicting maize growth and yield in a subtropical environment

A combination of a simple and universal crop growth simulator (SUCROS) of van Keulen et al. [van Keulen, H., Penning de Vries, F.W.T., Drees, E.M., 1982. A summary model for crop growth. In: Penning de Vries, F.W.T., Laar van, H.H. (Eds.), Simulation of Plant Growth and Crop Production. Simulation Monographs, Pudoc, Wageningen] with a water balance model (WBM) of Arora et al. [Arora, V.K., Prihar, S.S., Gajri, P.R., 1987. Synthesis of a simplified water use simulation model for predicting wheat yields. Water Resources Res. 23, 903–910] along with some modifications was assessed for predicting maize growth and yield in variable climatic and water supply regimes. Model assessment showed that simulated biomass and grain yield of maize were close to the measured data in medium water-retentive sandy loam; while in low retentive loamy sand, biomass was over-predicted for most of water supply regimes. Poor performance of the model in the loamy sand appears due to the reason that the maize grown on such soils during hot and monsoonal rainy season generally suffers more from soil-related constraints other than water stress. The analysis indicates the adequacy of the combination model in medium water-retentive soils.