The optimization of irrigation and fertilization indexes for peanuts with drip irrigation is urgently needed in Xinjiang. A field experiment was conducted during the 2021 peanut growing season at Urumqi, Xinjiang, in Northwestern China, to evaluate the effects of different water and nitrogen treatments on the growth, yield, and water and nitrogen utilization of peanuts. In field experiments, we set up three irrigation levels (irrigation water quotas of 22.5, 30, and 37.5 mm, respectively, for W₁, W₂, and W₃), two nitrogen application levels (77.5 and 110 kg·ha⁻¹, recorded as N₁ and N₂), and a control treatment (W₂N₀) that did not include the application of nitrogen. The results showed that nitrogen application enhanced the growth, physiological indexes, yield, and water use efficiency of the W₁, W₂, and W₃ treatments when the irrigation volume remained the same. In comparison with no nitrogen application (W₂N₀), the peanut growth, physiological indexes, yield, and water use efficiency improved with increasing irrigation amounts in the N₁ and N₂ treatments. With an increase in the irrigation volume, the water use efficiency grew; the W₃N₂ treatment had the highest water use efficiency, which was 1.32 kg·m⁻³. The total water consumption and reproductive-stage water consumption of the peanuts in all treatments increased with the irrigation volume, and a high yield was achieved at 402.57 mm, which was 5.2974 Mg·ha⁻¹. In the W₁, W₂, and W₃ treatments, the nitrogen partial factor productivity significantly decreased as the nitrogen application increased, with the nitrogen partial factor productivity in the W₃N₁ treatment being the highest, at 60.61 kg·kg⁻¹. A comprehensive evaluation based on principal component analysis assigned W₃N₂ the higher score. These findings suggest that irrigation water quotas of 37.5 mm should be coupled with 110 kg·ha⁻¹ nitrogen applications for peanuts using drip irrigation in mulch film in Xinjiang.

The aim of this study was to optimize water-saving and high-efficiency irrigation and nitrogen application scheduling for greenhouse tomato cultivation in North China. Using experimental data on water and nitrogen inputs, the DSSAT-GLUE parameter adjustment tool was employed to calibrate the genetic parameters of the DSSAT–CROPGRO–Tomato model. Simulations were conducted to assess greenhouse tomato growth, water use, and yield under varying water and nitrogen conditions. After calibration, the model showed average relative errors of 3.19% for the phenological stages, 3.33% for plant height, and 4.52% for yield dry weight, meeting accuracy standards. The results from the calibrated model indicated that increasing irrigation or nitrogen levels initially enhanced yield but led to diminishing returns beyond optimal ranges. The maximum tomato yield and water–nitrogen use efficiency were achieved with irrigation quotas between 320 and 340 mm and nitrogen applications between 360 and 400 kg·ha⁻¹. These findings provide a guideline for efficient water and nitrogen management for greenhouse tomatoes under drip irrigation conditions.

In order to explore the applicability of the peanut growth simulation model CSM-CROPGRO-Peanut under conditions of mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang, and to determine the optimal scenario for parameter estimation and model validation, field experiments were conducted in 2022 and 2023 on the water and nitrogen regulation of peanut. Based on the water requirements during the stages of peanut growth, three irrigation levels (low, medium, and high) and two nitrogen application levels (100% N and 50% N) were set, resulting in six treatments. An additional control treatment (CK) with a medium irrigation level and no nitrogen application was also included. In this study, four different parameter estimation and validation protocols were designed, and different parameter estimation results were obtained using the DSSAT-GLUE parameter estimation module. The results showed that the FL-SH (time between first flower and first pod), FL-SD (time between first flower and first seed), SIZLF (time between first flower and first seed), XFRT (maximum size of full leaf), and WTPSD (maximum weight per seed) parameters exhibited strong variability, with coefficients of variation of 24.33%, 22.9%, 19.78%, 14.47%, and 23.82%, respectively, and were significantly affected by environment–management interactions. Other parameters showed weaker variability, with coefficients of variation that were all less than 10%. The model outputs varied significantly among different parameter estimation protocols. Scenario 3, which used data from the adequate irrigation and adequate fertilization treatment (W3N2) environment across both years for parameter estimation and data from other treatments for validation, showed the highest model calibration and validation accuracy. The average absolute relative error (ARE) and normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) for model calibration and validation were the lowest at 9.1% and 10.1%, respectively. The CSM-CROPGRO-Peanut model effectively simulated peanut growth and development as well as soil moisture dynamics under mulched drip irrigation conditions in Xinjiang, with the highest simulation accuracy observed under full irrigation conditions. The findings provide a basis for using the CSM-CROPGRO-Peanut model to develop suitable irrigation and nitrogen application regimes for peanuts under mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang.

To optimize water–nitrogen management for mulched drip-irrigated peanuts in Xinjiang, a three-season field experiment was conducted to assess the impacts of drip irrigation rates and water–nitrogen coupling on peanut growth, yield, quality, and water–nitrogen use efficiency. Two irrigation accounts (30 and 37.5 mm, denoted as W1 and W2), three nitrogen application levels (half nitrogen application and conventional nitrogen application, denoted as N1 and N2), and a control treatment (CK) without nitrogen application, and two drip discharge rates (3.0 and 6.0 L h⁻¹, denoted as Q1 and Q2) were utilized for a total of five treatments per year, and the experiment was repeated three times. The results demonstrated that the irrigation and fertilization parameters of the W2N1Q2 treatment could significantly improve peanut growth, yield, quality, and water–nitrogen use efficiency, achieving optimal values for all measured indicators. Compared with the control (W2N0Q1), the main stem height increased by 9.59% and 13.13%, the aboveground biomass increased by 6.32% and 34.67%, the yield increased by 26.69% and 20.97% (p < 0.01), the water use efficiency increased by 27.08% and 16.33%, the nitrogen partial factor productivity values were 47.39 and 77.00 kg kg⁻¹, the protein content increased by 3.99% and 4.63%, and the oil content increased by 1.68% and 8.53%, respectively. A PCA was performed using five key performance indicators (yield, protein content, oil content, water use efficiency, and nitrogen partial factor productivity) to evaluate different treatment combinations. The W2N1Q2 treatment obtained the highest composite score, indicating its overall superior performance among all treatments. Therefore, under the conditions of this experiment, the irrigation and nitrogen application parameters for achieving both a high yield and quality of peanuts under mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang were determined to be W2N1Q2 treatment (irrigation account of 37.5 mm, nitrogen application of 118 kg ha⁻¹, and drip discharge of 6.0 L h⁻¹). This optimized combination brings three key advantages to water-scarce regions: (1) maximizing yield water use efficiency through precise irrigation scheduling; (2) balanced nutrient management to prevent nitrogen wastage; and (3) providing a key technological reference for agricultural production in Xinjiang and other similar ecological zones.