Examples of how to simulate performance of conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage (CT) practices using cropping systems models are rare in the literature, and from the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP). Here we report a comprehensive evaluation of the capacity of APSIM for simulating the performance of CA and CT cropping practices under a diverse range of tillage (CT vs zero tillage (ZT)), crop establishment options (puddled transplanted rice vs unpuddled transplanted rice), residue, N rates, and irrigation practices from two sites in the EGP that differed in soil type, water table dynamics, and agro-climatic conditions. We followed a robust procedure of model parameterisation, calibration, and validation, then undertook statistical analyses to evaluate model performance. We have demonstrated that when different values for key model input parameters are employed (i.e. change in soil properties (Ks, BD)), crop rooting parameters (xf- root hospitality, kl- root extraction efficiency) and soil microorganism activity (F_biom- fraction of soil organic matter present as microbial biomass and F_inert- the inert fraction of soil organic matter), the model performed well in simulating the different performances of CA and CT management practices across the environments in the EGP. Model performance was markedly better in the full-N than in zero-N, but both are still considered acceptable. In addition to well-watered and fertilised treatments, the model was able to capture an observed crop failure in rainfed unpuddled transplanted rice accurately, illustrating an ability to capture crop response under a wide range of water stress environments. As demonstrated by robust statistical criteria, APSIM was able to capture the effect of cropping system, irrigation, tillage, residue, and N-application rate within the bounds of experimental uncertainty, hence is now deemed a suitable tool for scenario analyses around the relevant practices.

如何使用耕作系统模型模拟保护性农业 (CA) 和常规耕作 (CT) 实践的实例在文献中和东恒河平原 (EGP) 中很少见。在这里，我们报告了对 APSIM 模拟 CA 和 CT 种植实践在不同耕作范围（CT 与零耕（ZT））、作物种植选项（水坑移栽水稻与未浸水移栽水稻）下的性能的能力的综合评估，来自 EGP 中土壤类型、地下水位动态和农业气候条件不同的两个地点的残留物、N 率和灌溉做法。我们遵循模型参数化、校准和验证的稳健程序，然后进行统计分析以评估模型性能。_biom - 以微生物生物量和_惰性形式存在的土壤有机质的比例- 土壤有机质的惰性部分），该模型在模拟 EGP 环境中 CA 和 CT 管理实践的不同性能方面表现良好。模型性能在全 N 中明显优于零 N，但两者仍然被认为是可以接受的。除了充分浇水和施肥的处理外，该模型还能够准确地捕捉到雨养未浇灌的移栽水稻中观察到的作物歉收，说明了在广泛的水分胁迫环境下捕捉作物反应的能力。正如稳健的统计标准所证明的那样，APSIM 能够在实验不确定性的范围内捕捉种植系统、灌溉、耕作、残留和施氮率的影响，因此现在被认为是围绕相关实践进行情景分析的合适工具.