HIGHLIGHTS:

The AquaCrop model is efficient in estimating cowpea crop yield.

The use of irrigation is crucial for increasing cowpea yield in both rainy and dry seasons.

New management strategies can be adopted for cowpea after parameterization with AquaCrop.

ABSTRACT

Cowpea is a legume crop cultivated in diversified production systems, under different conditions of climate, soil, cultivars and technological level. Although the crop is resistant to water stress, lack of moisture in the soil profile during its reproductive stage causes significant losses in its yield. The objective of this study was to calibrate and evaluate the AquaCrop model in the simulation of cowpea yield under water stress in two cropping seasons (rainy and dry) under no-tillage system condition. Experiments were carried out in two cropping seasons (rainy and dry) with five forms of water stress (without water stress, water suspension for 5, 10 and 15 days and rainfed cultivation), under no-tillage system. Regardless of the cowpea cropping season, water stress reduced grain yield and biomass yield, which was more pronounced in the dry season. The Aquacrop model simulated cowpea yield well for the rainy and dry seasons, with root mean square error of 16 and 9.1%, respectively. Aquacrop model showed poor performance for simulation of dry biomass production in both cropping seasons, overestimating the values obtained in the field.

Key words:
agricultural modeling; agricultural production; semiarid region; water use efficiency