Ali et al. (2026) Optimizing soil moisture-triggered automated irrigation and nitrogen management in wheat–maize systems using RZWQM2

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-02
• Authors: Md. Razzab Ali, Yucui Zhang, Md Raseduzzaman, Yanmin Yang, Haonan Sun, Ying Guo, Yanjun Shen
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110744

Research Groups

• Hebei Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute

Short Summary

This study optimized soil moisture-triggered automated irrigation and nitrogen management in wheat–maize systems using the RZWQM2 model. The results showed that moderate crop-specific root-zone depletion offers a climate-resilient pathway for sustainable water and nitrogen management.

Objective

• To integrate irrigation systems with different fertilization rates to optimize water productivity, nitrogen efficiency, and reduce deep percolation and nitrate leaching.
• To calibrate and validate the RZWQM2 model using observed soil water content, crop phenology, and other parameters under different irrigation and fertilization practices.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Local scale (Luancheng Agro-Ecosystem Experimental Station)
• Temporal Scale: Long-term (38 years, 1984–2021)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: RZWQM2 (version 4.2)
• Data sources: Lysimeter measurements, weather station data, soil hydraulic parameters

Main Results

• The model accurately simulated soil water content, plant growth, yield, biomass, daily water use, nitrogen uptake, water and nitrogen efficiency under different irrigation and fertilization practices.
• Long-term simulations identified optimal soil moisture–triggered irrigation strategies as a 45% root-zone depletion threshold for wheat and 25% for maize.

Contributions

• This study integrated lysimeter observations with long-term process-based modeling to demonstrate the effectiveness of moderate, crop-specific root-zone depletion in reducing water and nitrogen losses.
• The results provide valuable insights into optimizing irrigation and fertilization strategies for sustainable agriculture in the wheat–maize system.

Funding

• Hebei Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (project code: XXXXXXX)
• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (project code: YYYYYYYY)

Citation

@article{Ali2026Optimizing,
  author = {Ali, Md. Razzab and Zhang, Yucui and Raseduzzaman, Md and Dou, Xiaojun and Yang, Yanmin and Sun, Haonan and Guo, Ying and Shen, Yanjun},
  title = {Optimizing soil moisture-triggered automated irrigation and nitrogen management in wheat–maize systems using RZWQM2},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110744},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110744}
}