Estimation of Rice Grain Yield Through Inforcrop V2.1 Simulation Model Considering Brown Planthopper Damage in New Delhi Conditions

This study aimed to estimate grain yield using the Infocrop v2.1 model, which was validated against field experiment data collected under the agro-climatic conditions of New Delhi. Field trials were conducted at the experimental fields of the Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and pooled data from five years (2017–2021) revealed that brown planthopper (BPH) infestation began at different standard meteorological weeks (SMW) depending on the rice transplanting period, with the population peaking during the 41st SMW. The Infocrop model was independently validated for early, normal, and late transplanting based on five years of data (2017–2021). The validation results demonstrated satisfactory model performance, with mean bias error (MBE) values of 0.29, 0.30, and -4.62; mean absolute error (MAE) values of 6.50, 7.55, and 8.56; and root mean square error (RMSE) values of 7.32, 8.20, and 9.27 for early, normal, and late transplanting, respectively. The model exhibited a high index of agreement (IOA) of 0.98, 0.93, and 0.93 across the three transplanting periods, indicating its strong suitability and reliability for yield simulation under the climatic conditions of the Delhi region.