A holistic generic integrated approach for irrigation, crop and field management

The SALTMED model has been calibrated using the drip irrigation water treatment of 2002 in both Syria and Egypt. The calibration was primarily focused on yield prediction. The irrigation files contained field measurements of flow rate, duration of each irrigation and salinity of irrigation water. Plant parameters such as maximum plant height and rooting depth, length of each growth stage, planting date and harvesting date were based on field measurements and records. Crop coefficients such as Kc, Kcb, Fc were based on (Allen et al., 1998) which forms part of the SALTMED built-in crop database. Soil parameters such as the saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, were largely based on field measurements while the water retention curves were based on laboratory measurements. Initial soil water content and salinity were based on measurements either in laboratory or in the field. Fine tuning of some crop and soil parameters were carried out in order to obtain good calibration, i.e. close agreement between measured and simulated yield. These adjusted parameters successfully predicted the observed yield in both Egypt and Syria. Following successful calibration, the same set of crop parameters such as crop coefficient, Kc, basal crop coefficient, Kcb, fraction cover, Fc, osmotic potential at which the potential water uptake is reduced by 50%, π50, maximum height and maximum rooting depth as well as the calibrated soil parameters were used for model testing in both Egypt and Syria for all seasons. The results are given in part two in this issue.