Tuesday, November 14, 2006
141-19

Evaluation of the CSM-CERES-Maize Model for Different Agroecological Conditions in Colombia.

José Gabriel Ospina R., Federación Nacional de Cultivadores de Cereales y Leguminosa - FENALCE, Regional Antioquia, Antioquia, Colombia, Enrique Martínez Bustamente, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia, Nestor Miguel Riaño, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones de Café – Cenicafé, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, Axel Garcia y Garcia, The Univ of Georgia, Dept of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, 1109 Experiment St, Griffin, GA 30223-1797, and Gerrit Hoogenboom, The Univ of Georgia Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, 1109 Experiment St., Griffin, GA 30223-1797.

Maize is the most important annual crop in Colombia, accounting for total planted area of 600,000 ha. Yields range from 1.5 t ha-1 to 3.0 t ha-1, but the regions in the Valle del Cauca, Córdoba, and the coffee belt produce yield as high as 8 to 9 t ha-1. Studies for a better understanding of the interactions between genotypes, climate, soil, and crop management are needed for crops' production evaluation under different environments. Because multiple experiments with spatio-temporal replications are time consuming and expensive, the National Federation of Cereal and Leguminous Growers (FENALCE) has started using Decision Support Systems and crop simulation models to help with the identification of potential maize growing areas in Colombia. The objective of this study was to evaluate the Cropping System Model (CSM)-CERES-Maize model, which is part of the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT), under different agroecological conditions in Colombia. Maize experiments with the variety ICA V 156 and the hybrids Pioneer 3041 and CORPOICA Turipaná H 112 were conducted in three locations during the 2003 and 2004 growing seasons, including Montería (Córdoba), Palmira (Valle del Cauca), and Chinchiná (Caldas). The cultivar coefficients were obtained from weather and soil and crop measurements conducted at Montería and Chinchiná. The data set used for model evaluation was derived from the experiments carried out in Palmira. The CSM-CERES-Maize model was able to simulate well the phenology of the three maize cultivars at the three locations. Except for Palmira, the model simulated well the biomass accumulation and yield of the three maize cultivars; however, the best results were obtained for the variety. Further work will focus on the evaluation of the CSM-CERES-Maize model performance for simulating maize yield for multiple locations in Colombia.