Determination of Sorghum Optimum Sowing Date, Seasonal Variability of Biomass Production, And Water Use Efficiency in Agricultural Rain Fed Area in Sudan, Using AQUACROP Model

Azmi  Elhag Aydrous Elhag; Shaker  Babiker Ahamed; Mohammed  Abdelmouhmod Elsiekh; Ali  Hussien Kadhim; Hassan  Ibrahim Mohammed

doi:10.52981/fajas.v6i1.2764

Azmi Elhag Aydrous Elhag Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Omdurman Islamic university, Sudan.
Shaker Babiker Ahamed Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Omdurman Islamic university, Sudan.
Mohammed Abdelmouhmod Elsiekh Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Omdurman Islamic university, Sudan.
Ali Hussien Kadhim Engineering section, Sinnar University, Sudan.
Hassan Ibrahim Mohammed Department of Agricultural Engineering, faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Sudan University of Sciences and Technology, Sudan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52981/fajas.v6i1.2764

الكلمات المفتاحية: AQUACROP, المقارنة المعيارية, إنتاجية المياه, كفاءة استخدام المياه, (WUE), الذرة الرفيعة, المطرية

الملخص

This research aimed to determine sorghum optimum sowing date, seasonal variability of biomass production, and water use efficiency in agricultural rain fed area in Sudan using AQUACROP Model. The study selected five meteorological stations representing five different agro- ecological zones located in the north, middle and south of the Sudan namely Al-Dalang, Al- Damazin, Al-Gadaref, El-Obeied, and El-Fasher for the period 1979 to 2014. The results indicated that an increase in sorghum yield under historical climate conditions in the different studied stations is possible with early sowing. Stations with high rain fall (Al-Damazin, Al-Gadaref and Al-Dalang) showed little variations in inter-annual yields and inter-annual biomass yield. There was a big gap between actual and modeled water productivity showing that it is possible to introduce different means (water harvesting and improved cultural practices) to shorten this gap. The obtained WUE is lower in the driest regions (El-Fasher, and El-Obeied) and higher for those of high rain fall. To aid decision makers and crop growers in rain fed areas, a set of recommendations for policy making and future research were identified.

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