Determining optimum sowing date of wheat using CSM-CERES-Wheat model

Wheat production in the south of Khuzestan, Iran is constrained by heat stress for late sowing dates. For optimization of yield, sowing at the appropriate time to fit the cultivar maturity length and growing season is critical. Crop models could be used to determine optimum sowing window for a locality. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the Cropping System Model (CSM)-CERES-Wheat for its ability to simulate growth, development, grain yield of wheat in the tropical regions of Iran, and to study the impact of different sowing dates on wheat performance. The genetic coefficients of cultivar Chamran were calibrated for the CSM-CERES-Wheat model and crop model performance was evaluated with experimental data. Wheat cultivar Chamran was sown on different dates, ranging from 5 November to 9 January during 5 years of field experiments that were conducted in the Khuzestan province, Iran, under full and deficit irrigation conditions. The model was run for 8 sowing dates starting on 25 October and repeated every 10 days until 5 January using long-term historical weather data from the Ahvaz, Behbehan, Dezful and Izeh locations. The seasonal analysis program of DSSAT was used to determine the optimum sowing window for different locations as well. Evaluation with the experimental data showed that performance of the model was reasonable as indicated by fairly accurate simulation of crop phenology, biomass accumulation and grain yield against measured data. The normalized RMSE were 3%, 2%, 11.8%, and 3.4% for anthesis date, maturity date, grain yield and biomass, respectively. Optimum sowing window was different among locations. It was opened and closed on 5 November and 5 December for Ahvaz; 5 November and 15 December for Behbehan and Dezful;and 1 November and 15 December for Izeh, respectively. CERES-Wheat model could be used as a tool to evaluate the effect of sowing date on wheat performance in Khuzestan conditions. Further model evaluations might also be needed for other cultivars which are released for this region.