Application of CSM-CROPGRO-Cotton model for cultivars and optimum planting dates: Evaluation in changing semi-arid climate

Simulation models are widely used for making decision support especially under sub-optimal climatic conditions for yield improvement. The impact of uncertain weather conditions on cotton production can be explored with the aid of such models. Cotton, being the queen of fibers, enjoys itself a predominant position amongst all other cash crops and has the potential to narrow the gap between production and consumption of fiber and edible oil. The goal of the study was to evaluate the performance of Cropping System Model CROPGRO-Cotton for examining temporal variation in cultivars and to determine the potential impact of planting dates. The model was calibrated using a diverse range of field observation for phenology, growth and seed cotton yield (SCY) and its components…