Abstract: APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) is a modeling framework which is enabled to simulate broad spectra of biophysical processes in farming system and is capable to predict a variety of scenarios. APSIM is also sensitive to climate change and different water conditions in dryfarming area. In order to examine the application of APSIM model in dryfarming area in the Loess Plateau, the values of soil moisture loss after winter wheat harvest were measured under different stubble retention treatments, and APSIM was used to predict the output. The results indicated that soil moisture evaporation under stubble retention (S) was 16.7%-23.9% lower than that under fallow (F), stubble mulching with tillage (TS) and tillage (T) treatment after a rainfall event. Simulation of APSIM model could be used to explain 71%-92% change of soil moisture content. Under a simulated rainfall with a rainfall intensity of 66 mm•h^-1, soil moisture evaporation was decreased by 27.8% under SS treatment (with stubble of 2 t•hm^-2) and 49.4% under LS treatment (with stubble of 4 t•hm^-2) compared with that under F treatment. APSIM model could be used to predict 96%-99% soil moisture loss. The results demonstrated that APSIM was satisfactory to predict the process of soil moisture loss through evaporation in dryfarming region.

Key words: font-family: 宋体, mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体, mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt, mso-ansi-language: EN-US, mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN, soil moisture content')">mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">soil moisture content, ')">stubble retention, ')">winter wheat, ')">soil moisture evaporation, APSIM, the Loess Plateau