Application of aqua crop model to simulate the effect of varying irrigation amounts on tomato growth and yield

Abstract

Tomato growing is one of the major economic activities carried out in Uganda. Most farmers depend on rain fall in areas where it is sufficient however, few farmers practice irrigation to carry out the activity throughout the year due to erratic whether. With water in agricultural production being a limiting factor, irrigation with water deficit index provides a greater economic return than total irrigation. The amounts of water applied to a tomato crop with other factors allow changes in growth and yields. The deficit irrigation could be used for tomatoes to give yields with negligible loss and also fruit quality such as sugar content (glucose and Fructose) and other antioxidants (titrable acids, odour active aroma volatiles, and vitamin C). To address this, FAQ developed Aqua crop model which simulates attainable yields of crops in response to water. Aqua Crop has a significantly smaller number of parameters and attempts to strike a balance between simplicity, accuracy, and robustness. Key words: lycopersicum esculantum, Drip irrigation, Treatments and Aqua crop model.