This simulation tool can be applied easily to irrigation demand problems for other crops in other
scenarios. An effective water sustainability management requires global crop and farming region control.
Although the tool produces reasonable simulation results, it can still be improved. The quantity of
irrigation and harvest amount forecast by our simulations should not be considered as scientifically
proven at this stage. More real data for sunflower harvest and irrigations need to be gathered for model
calibration. Moreover, the modelling could consider more factors such as irrigation techniques and
management.
Acknowledgements
The ENSEMBLES data used in this work was funded by the EU FP6 Integrated Project
ENSEMBLES (Contract number 505539) whose support is gratefully acknowledged.