SIMULATING THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF PEANUT CULTIVARS UNDER TEMPORAL VARIATION USING CROPGRO-PEANUT (DSSAT) MODEL

Crop models are widely used in developing crop management strategies for sustainable production especially under changing climatic conditions. The impact of sub-optimal climatic conditions on peanut production can be explored with the aid of such models. Peanut being the king of oilseeds, enjoys itself a prime position amongst all other cash crops and has the potential to narrow the gap between production and consumption of edible oil. The study was undertaken to simulate the growth and yield of peanut cultivars under temporal variation using CROPGRO-Peanut (DSSAT) model. The model calibration was done with phenology (days to anthesis and days to maturity), growth (leaf area index and total dry matter) and yield data of both cultivars with 15-April planting date. The submodules such as Sensitivity Analysis and Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) were used to adjust the genetic coefficients. Simulations of physiology, phenology and yield were found well with good indices. Model simulated the days to anthesis and maturity accurately with d-index (>0.92 and >0.92), and the indices of biomass and leaf area index were simulated well with lower RMSE (349.34497.14 and 0.86-0.69), respectively during model evaluation. Pod yield was also predicted well with lower RMSE (266.31341). Both cultivars performed well with greater yield at 15-April sowing primarily due to optimum growing conditions. The sub-optimal growing period at delayed planting (15-June) resulted in poor growth and development due to temperature stress ultimately, caused 27% pod yield penalty. Model also predicted the genotypes developments at different sowing times and higher yield was observed at 15-April sowing. Peanut sowing at mid-April can be recommended for the farmers to avoid environmental stress and appropriate use of available resources for sustainable yield. Results depicted the potential of model for selection of appropriate genotype, planting dates and other peanut management practices in the region.