Seasonal Variation Impact on Cassava Planting Crops: A Case Study in Phu Yen Province, Vietnam

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the suitable planting date for cassava crops in the Phu Yen Province of Vietnam to improve cassava yield and mitigate the impacts of adverse weather in the context of climate variability. To conduct this study, the AquaCrop model (version 6.0) is selected to simulate the cassava yield under different planting dates to find the suitable planting date which obtains optimal cassava yield and lowest production cost. The results showed that the cassava yield can increase by 7.85% if the crop planting date is delayed 21 days compared with the current planting calendar for spring crop season while for summer crop season, an increase of the cassava yield approximately 5.16% can achieve when the current planting calendar is delayed 14 days. Based on the findings from the study showed that the current planting calendar of cassava crops are strongly dominated by rainfall factor. These confirm that the current planting calendar of cassava crops across the entire study area is inconsistent with the current weather conditions.