Evaluation of CropSyst for studying the effect of mulching with lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) in Austria

Conservation of water under semi-arid conditions is of supreme importance to combat forthcoming water scarcity. Crop residue mulches are the key interventions in this regard. Simulation models are emerging as strong analytical tools to study the effect of agronomic interventions but their use to study effect of mulches in Austria is limited. To bridge this knowledge gap, we planned a study to evaluate the efficacy of CropSyst for studying response of lucerne mulches in succeeding lucerne crop. CropSyst is a user-friendly, conceptually simple but sound multi-year multi-crop daily time step simulation model. Above ground biomass and soil water content from field experiments carried out near the city of Vienna, Austria (2007-2008) were compared with simulated results to determine the suitability of CropSyst in regarding mulch. Adequacy of model to regard mulch is demonstrated while pros and cons of disagreement between experimental and modeling results are discussed with a way forward for future research.