Alex Zizinga 2021-Assessment of FAO AquaCrop Model for simulating maize (Zea Mays L.) productivity under selected climate smart agriculture practices for soil water management in a sub-humid environment
Description
This data is from the field experiment conducted in Uganda fror three growing seasons conducted at Bulindi Zonal Agriculture Research Development Institute, Western Uganda (1° 00' – 2° 00' N and 30° 30' – 31°45' E, 1276 m asl). The data includes files describing seven treatments used in the experiment to simulate maize yield and biomass in sheet one of Crop growth file with all seasons of simulated and field observations for three growing seasons aligned to the AquaCrop model evaluation statistics, Evapotranspiration (Etr), Water Use Efficience (WUE) in sheet 2 and the Climate data in sheet three (Climate). The individual simulated files are titled in a folder for all seasons (The experiment consisted of seven treatments which included grass mulch with thicknesses of 2 cm (M2 cm), 4 cm (M4 cm) and 6 cm (M6 cm), halfmoon (HM), permanent planting basins (PPB) of 20 cm (PPB20 cm) and 30 cm (PPB30 cm). Soil hydarulic properties include field capaciy, permanent wilting point and saturation of the soils at the study site.
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Steps to reproduce
The experiment was set up as a completely randomized block design with four replications. Three seasons were conducted, whereby the first season ran from April to August 2019, second season started from October 2019 and ended in February 2020 and the third season was March to August 2020. The experiment consisted of seven treatments which included grass mulch with thicknesses of 2 cm (M2 cm), 4 cm (M4 cm) and 6 cm (M6 cm), halfmoon (HM), permanent planting basins (PPB) of 20 cm (PPB20 cm) and 30 cm (PPB30 cm) depth and the control. For mulching treatments, the soil in each plot was covered with soil with dry grass materials to obtain thickness of 2cm, 4cm and 6cm above the soil surface. This was done immediately after planting such that the mulching materials were put between the rows. For the halfmoon treatment, six moon shaped pits measuring 30 cm deep, 50 cm wide and 100 cm circumference were dug using a hand hoe at a spacing of 30 cm. The permanent planting basin treatments were established by digging circular pits of 15 cm diameter and depths of 20 cm (PPB20 cm) and 30 cm (PPB 30 cm). The PPB treatments were established one day before planting. The control treatment comprised of a bare surface field without any water management technique, which is the conventional cultivation practice used in the study area. In all treatments, maize (Longe 9H variety) was sown 5cm deep at spacing of 75 cm between rows × 30 cm between hills on 1st April 2019 5th October 2019 and 17th March 2020 for seasons 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Plots of 5 × 5 m with borders of 1 m between plots and 2 m between blocks were used. To cater for the maize nutrient requirements, diammonium phosphate (60 kg ha-1) and muriate of potash (60 kg ha-1) were basally applied at blanket rates during planting. At eight weeks after planting, top dressing was conducted using urea fertilizer applied at a blanket rate of 90 kg ha-1 [29]. The major phenological growth stages in days after planting. Data on aboveground biomass was collected at vegetative, tasseling, silking and maturity stages in the three growing seasons and the cumulative soil moisture in each CSA practice, respectively. At vegetative, tasseling and silking stages, biomass was determined using four randomly selected maize plants from the outer rows of each plot. The maize shoot was cut off at the ground level and its weight determined using a weighing scale. At maturity, the above ground biomass and grain yield were measured using a net plot of 4 m2. The maize shoots from the harvested area were weighed to obtain fresh weight immediately after harvesting. From each plot, sub samples of the grain and stover were collected and oven dried at 60 ℃ at Makerere University soil science laboratory until constant weight was obtained. The dry weights of maize biomass and grain were used to calculate the yields of maize biomass and grain on hectare basis (t ha−1).