Author(s): DIAS, H. B.; CUADRA, S. V.; FIGUEIREDO, G. K. D. A.; LAMPARELLI, R. A. C.; SILVA, L. E. A.; SILVA, Y. F. da; MORO, E.; ALVES, M. R.; MAGALHÃES, P. S. G.

Summary: ABSTRACT. Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS) are being considered to improve food production sustainability and are of increasing interest to the modelling community worldwide. Our goal was to evaluate the ability of an agroecosystem model simulator (ECOSMOS) to predict plant growth and yield, and water dynamics in an ICLS in the Western region of São Paulo State, Brazil. Four fields of approximately 50 ha each were monitored after the implementation of the ICLS at the end of 2018. Soybean yields (two seasons), mixed-pasture aboveground dry biomass and soil water content (for the pasture only) measurements were contrasted with predictions from ECOSMOS with recently implemented soybean and pasture sub-models. Preliminary results from a generic simulation for the whole farm showed that the model was able to capture fairly well the seasonal variation in growth and water dynamics. Such results suggest that the existing knowledge and modelling approaches embedded in the model are robust. Future steps toward modelling the ICLS will involve to parameterise the model for Brazilian cultivars of the system using data from controlled/manipulative experiments, develop a framework to simulate two plants concomitantly, and then assess its capability to predict environmental variables of interest, such as carbon dynamics.

Publication year: 2021

Types of publication: Paper in annals and proceedings

Unit: Embrapa Digital Agriculture

Keywords: Agricultura, Agriculture (Soybean), Integrated crop-livestock systems, Intensification, Modelagem, Pastagem, Pasture, Sistemas integrados lavoura-pecuária, Soja