AquaCropR: Crop growth model for R

Abstract

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) AquaCrop model, run either via a standalone graphical user interface (GUI) or via a matlab application programming interface (API) (AquaCrop-OS), has been successfully tested on many crop species and under multiple scenarios. However, with these current versions, it is difficult for users to adapt formulae, add functionality or incorporate the model into other applications such as decision support tools. Here, we report on the release of a version of AquaCrop written in R. Performance of the model was tested using published datasets of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.), comparing output from AquaCropR with these other versions of AquaCrop. Our goal in developing this version was to widen the use and improvement of AquaCrop through open access.