Estimation of actual evapotranspiration and water requirements of strategic crops under different stresses

According to the importance of water conservation in water scarcity regions, estimating the exact amount of required water for crops under different stress conditions in irrigation networks is vital. One of the challenges in water management is estimating these stresses with crop models. AquaCrop is a robust model that can simulate the actual evapotranspiration and the water needs under different biophysical and management conditions. In this study, the actual evapotranspiration (Eta) and the irrigation requirement of wheat, barley, and maize are estimated by the AquaCrop model in the Qazvin province, and then compared with the results of the CropWat model. According to the results, the irrigation requirement for all three crops was significantly less than the CropWat estimation that were 184, 55.9, and 38.6 mm less water volume is needed for wheat, barley, and maize, respectively, showing using this model, the water efficiency will increase and the less amount of water can bring us the same amount of production. After that, for better comparison and assessment of the AquaCrop model, results were compared to the amount estimated by the Moghan plain and represented a higher amount of the actual evapotranspiration and the irrigation requirement because of different climate situations. These differences are mostly due to the AquaCrop model that is able to adjust itself under different stress conditions.