This study aimed to adapt and evaluate the InfoCrop model for simulating grain yield of irrigated rice in Santa Maria, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The grain yield of irrigated rice was simulated considering three versions of the InfoCrop model with adaptations for local rice cultivars. Simulated yields were compared to the yields observed in the Santa Maria county surveyed by the Instituto Riograndense do Arroz (Institute of Rice of Rio Grande do Sul - IRGA) from 1996/97 to 2008/09, and to the yields of experiments conducted at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Federal University of Santa Maria - UFSM) from 1998/1999 to 2005/2006. The InfoCrop model captured the interannual variability of the grain yield of irrigated rice for the Santa Maria county and the experiments conducted at UFSM. The root mean squared error of the simulation of grain yield using the Version 3 of the InfoCrop model (better performance), considering all data observed, was 0.850 Mg ha-1, with overestimation trend, which may have occurred because the model considers a situation of potential yield, which does not always occur in commercial farming.
mathematical modeling; grains; yield; Oryza sativa
