Intense Pasture Management in Brazil in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System Simulated by the DayCent Model

Yane Freitas Silva, Rafael Vasconcelos Valadares, Henrique Boriolo Dias, Santiago Vianna Cuadra, Eleanor E. Campbell, Rubens A. C. Lamparelli, Edemar Moro, Rafael Battisti, Marcelo R. Alves, Paulo S. G. Magalhães and Gleyce K. D. A. Figueiredo
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Yane Freitas Silva: School of Agricultural Engineering (FEAGRI), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-875, SP, Brazil
Rafael Vasconcelos Valadares: Centre of Energy Planning (NIPE), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-875, SP, Brazil
Henrique Boriolo Dias: Centre of Energy Planning (NIPE), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-875, SP, Brazil
Santiago Vianna Cuadra: Embrapa Agricultural Informatics (CNPTIA), Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (EMBRAPA), Campinas 13083-886, SP, Brazil
Eleanor E. Campbell: Earth Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Rubens A. C. Lamparelli: Centre of Energy Planning (NIPE), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-875, SP, Brazil
Edemar Moro: Department of Agronomy, University of Western São Paulo, Presidente Prudente 19067-175, SP, Brazil
Rafael Battisti: Agronomy School, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia 74690-900, GO, Brazil
Marcelo R. Alves: Department of Agronomy, University of Western São Paulo, Presidente Prudente 19067-175, SP, Brazil
Paulo S. G. Magalhães: Centre of Energy Planning (NIPE), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-875, SP, Brazil
Gleyce K. D. A. Figueiredo: School of Agricultural Engineering (FEAGRI), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-875, SP, Brazil

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-24

Abstract: Process-based models (PBM) are important tools for understanding the benefits of Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS), such as increasing land productivity and improving environmental conditions. PBM can provide insights into the contribution of agricultural production to climate change and help identify potential greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and carbon sequestration options. Rehabilitation of degraded lands is a key strategy for achieving food security goals and can reduce the need for new agricultural land. This study focused on the calibration and validation of the DayCent PBM for a typical ICLS adopted in Brazil from 2018 to 2020. We also present the DayCent parametrization for two forage species (ruzigrass and millet) grown simultaneously, bringing some innovation in the modeling challenges. We used aboveground biomass to calibrate the model, randomly selecting data from 70% of the paddocks in the study area. The calibration obtained a coefficient of determination (R 2 ) of 0.69 and a relative RMSE of 37.0%. During the validation, we used other variables (CO 2 flux, grain biomass, and soil water content) measured in the ICLS and performed a double validation for plant growth to evaluate the robustness of the model in terms of generalization. R 2 validations ranged from 0.61 to 0.73, and relative RMSE from 11.3 to 48.3%. Despite the complexity and diversity of ICLS results show that DayCent can be used to model ICLS, which is an important step for future regional analyses and large-scale evaluations of the impacts of ICLS.

Keywords: mixed-pasture; soybean; biogeochemical model; tropical pasture; sandy soil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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