SPFC: a tool to improve water management and hay production in the Crau region

J.C. Mailhol (1) , A. Merot (2)

1 Department of Neuroscience
2 UMR SYSTEM - Fonctionnement et conduite des systèmes de culture tropicaux et méditerranéens

This article deals with the development and application of SPFC, a model used to improve water and grassland production (HC) in this region of France. This model is composed of two sub-models: an irrigation model and a crop model. As the fields are border irrigated, these two sub-models are coupled. The crop model simulates dry matter, Leaf Area Index (LAI) and soil water reserve (SWR) variations. LAI and SWR are both used for border model updating: SWR for the deficit of saturation required by the infiltration equation and LAI for the roughness coefficient n. After calibration and validation, SPFC is then used to identify realistic management strategies for the irrigation and production system at the plot level. By scheduling irrigation when SWR is 50% depleted, would result in a low Dry Matter DM production loss (around 10%), reduced labour (8 irrigation events instead of 11) and in significant water saving compared with farmers' practices, on the basis of an average climatic scenario. Furthermore, this improvement of irrigation efficiency is not incompatible with groundwater recharge used for the potable water supply of the region.

Mots clés: FOURRAGE; MODELE; CULTURE; IRRIGATION; GESTION DE L'EAU; BORDER IRRIGATION; GRASSLANDS; WATER BALANCE; IRRIGATION MODEL; CROP MODEL; COUPLING MODELS

Domaines: Agronomie; Modélisation et simulation; Sciences et techniques de l'agriculture; Environnement et Société

J.C. Mailhol, A. Merot. SPFC: a tool to improve water management and hay production in the Crau region. Irrigation Science, 2008, 26 (4), p. 289 - p. 302. ⟨10.1007/s00271-007-0099-3⟩. ⟨hal-00453853⟩