Evaluating country-scale irrigation demand through parsimonious agro-hydrological modeling

WaterCROPv2 is an advanced agro-hydrological model designed to estimate irrigation
water demand at a national scale by effectively balancing hydrological accuracy with manageable data
requirements. Building on the original WaterCROPv1 model, WaterCROPv2 incorporates several
significant enhancements, including hourly computation, rainwater canopy interception, soil-dependent5
leakage dynamics, and daily evapotranspiration trends based on localized meteorological data.

WaterCROPv2 was used to assess mean irrigation water demand for maize from 2005
to 2015, illustrating its potential as a decision-support tool for policymakers.