This paper presents a genetic algorithm GA model for obtaining an optimal operating policy and optimal crop water allocations from an irrigation reservoir. The objective is to maximize the sum of the relative yields from all crops in the irrigated area. The model takes into account reservoir inflow, rainfall on the irrigated area, intraseasonal competition for water among multiple crops, the so...

Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is an important staple food crop, especially in Ethiopia where it is annually grown on 2.8 million hectares of land. It is important for food security in the region, in spite of having a low yield, mainly due to lodging. In this study, 15 representative landraces as well as three improved varieties have been selected for in-depth characterization of many par...

Intraseasonal water allocation to a single crop has been studied extensively. Previous studies have emphasized the need to coordinate irrigation scheduling with several factors including economic and physical constraints, amount of soil moisture available at the time of irrigations, growth stage of the plant, interactive effects from previous and/or subsequent irrigation, and the effect, timing...

The population of Africa will double in the next 33 years to reach 2.5 billion by 2050. Although roughly 60% of the continent’s population is engaged in agriculture, the produce from this sector cannot feed its citizens. Hence, in 2013 alone, Africa imported 56.5 million tons of wheat, maize, and soybean at the cost of 18.8 billion USD. Although crops cultivated in Africa play a vital role in t...

Contemporary agriculture is shifting from a single-goal to a multi-goal strategy, which in turn requires choosing best management practice (BMP) based on an assessment of the biogeochemical effects of management alternatives. The bottleneck is the capacity of predicting the simultaneous effects of different management practice scenarios on multiple goals and choosing BMP among scenarios. The de...

Monitoring crop condition and yields at regional scales using imagery from operational satellites remains a challenge because of the problem in scaling local yield simulations to the regional scales. NOAA AVHRR satellite imagery has been traditionally used to monitor vegetation changes that are used indirectly to assess crop condition and yields. Additionally, the 1-km spatial resolution of NOA...

this study was conducted to determine the potential evapotranspiration (pet) of maize, the crop coefficient (kc) under full water requirement as well as the cause of decrease in maize yield. it was determined that the seasonal pet of maize is about 486.6 mm. the kc under full water supply was found to be: 0.11, 0.35, 1.51 and 0.34 for initial, development, midseason and the late season stages r...

crop productivity, water use efficiency (wue), and microbial biomass c and n in rainfed dry area are influenced by tillage, rotation, and crop residue management. field experiments were conducted during 2005-08 to study the effect of tillage, crop rotation, and crop residue retention on oat fodder yield, water use efficiency, and microbial biomass c (mbc) and n (mbn) under semi-arid conditions ...

Wanjura, D.F. and Barker, G.L., 1985. Cotton lint yield accumulation rate and quality development. Field Crops Res., 10: 205--218. Crop production management during the period of boll setting and maturation of cot ton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is critical in determining lint yield and quality. A field investigation conducted at Lubbock, Texas, during 1977--1980 included three cultivars to study t...