Calibration and Validation of CSM-MANIHOTCassava Model for Cassava Crop (Manihot esculenta C.) at Different Plant Spacing in Holguín Province, Cuba.

Cassava is a cultivation of marked importance at global level and it constitutes the nutritious base of more than 500 million people. In Cuba, it is cultivated in all the provinces of the country with significant production volumes, however, technologies that favor the presence of processes of degradation of the soils and limit their productive potentialities persist. The yields reached in Calixto García Municipality oscillate around 15 t.ha-1, very below the national average. This investigation was developed with the objective of calibrating the CSM-MANIHOT-Cassava of the DSSAT v4.6 and validating the genetic coefficients in function of the yields for the clone "Señorita" under the conditions of Holguín Province. The experiments were carried out in two properties of the CCS "Julio Sanguily" in different plantation dates and using three space arrangements. For the validation, yields reached by producers in the study area in different campaigns were used and the values of the RMSEn were determined. The results of the validation showed values of RMSEn of 9.8% and 11.2% for the 2 campaigns used, it demonstrates the appropriate adjustment of the model and the feasibility of its utilization for cassava. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]