Abstract:
Pearl millet is an important crop for food security in Asia and Africa’s arid and semi-arid
regions. It is widely grown as a staple cereal grain for human consumption and livestock fodder.
Mechanistic crop growth and water balance models are useful to forecast crop production and water
use. However, very few studies have been devoted to the development of the model parameters
needed for such simulations for pearl millet. The objectives of the study were to determine cropspecific model parameters for each of three pearl millet varieties (landrace, hybrid, and improved),
as well as to calibrate and validate the Soil Water Balance (SWB) model for predicting pearl millet
production and water use based on weather data. The SWB was chosen because it is widely used in
southern Africa; however, the developed parameters should benefit other models as well. The presented crop-specific parameter values were derived from field observations and literature. Varieties
with different phenology, maturity dates and tillering habits were grown under well-watered and
well-fertilised conditions for calibration purposes. The calibrated model was used to predict biomass
production, grain yield and crop water use. The hybrid’s water use efficiency was higher than that of
the landrace and improved variety
