From its first release in 2015, the GesCoN DSS, for managing fertigation in open field-grown vegetable crops, has been tested under several processing tomato commercial field situations. Among the simulation approaches of the DSS, the modeling used for water relations and N dynamics in the soil was benchmarked during the 2016 and 2017 seasons against direct measurements of soil water content, crop growth and N uptake. To assess the accuracy of the DSS in soil moisture predictions, a series of capacitance multiple depths sensors were used to provide near-continuous measurements within the soil profile most interested by the plant roots, along with some gravimetric direct measurements of soil water content throughout the crop cycle. N plant uptake through the crop cycle was also used to assess the DSS accuracy in the prediction of the available N soil content. Following the comparison tests between measured and simulated data, a new approach has been developed for modeling water that also affects plant growth and N uptake. The paper describes this approach along with the 2018 season results of the in-soil/on-crop direct measurements as performed in 2016-2017 seasons, which confirm the good performance of the DSS in predicting both soil water content and N soil availability in processing tomato crop. A new release of the GesCoN DSS has been developed that is now functioning as a service on the platform www.ecofert.it.
Validation of the new modeling for soil water relations and N soil dynamics of the GesCoN DSS: A new release
Elia A.;la Rotonda P.;Lazzizera C.;Conversa G.
2021-01-01
Abstract
From its first release in 2015, the GesCoN DSS, for managing fertigation in open field-grown vegetable crops, has been tested under several processing tomato commercial field situations. Among the simulation approaches of the DSS, the modeling used for water relations and N dynamics in the soil was benchmarked during the 2016 and 2017 seasons against direct measurements of soil water content, crop growth and N uptake. To assess the accuracy of the DSS in soil moisture predictions, a series of capacitance multiple depths sensors were used to provide near-continuous measurements within the soil profile most interested by the plant roots, along with some gravimetric direct measurements of soil water content throughout the crop cycle. N plant uptake through the crop cycle was also used to assess the DSS accuracy in the prediction of the available N soil content. Following the comparison tests between measured and simulated data, a new approach has been developed for modeling water that also affects plant growth and N uptake. The paper describes this approach along with the 2018 season results of the in-soil/on-crop direct measurements as performed in 2016-2017 seasons, which confirm the good performance of the DSS in predicting both soil water content and N soil availability in processing tomato crop. A new release of the GesCoN DSS has been developed that is now functioning as a service on the platform www.ecofert.it.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
