Integration of a Crop Growth Model in a Greenhouse Management Software System

Abstract

In greenhouses, computerized climate control systems can be used to dynamically and automatically regulate climatic and environmental parameters. To support such a mode of operation, a crop growth model that was developed for greenhouse tomato plants (TOMGRO) was chosen. The model describes the phenological development and increase in dry weight of various organs from planting till maturity under variable environmental conditions. The assimilate partitioning is based on sink strength. A FORTRAN version of TOMGRO was converted to the Smalltalk object-oriented programming environment. This model was integrated into GX, a dynamic climate management software system that was developed at Laval Univ. GX defines a general architecture that may accommodate different decision-making modules based on mathematical models and rule bases. The TOMGRO model is being used to evaluate different production scenarios and will be used to calculate and predict crop growth rates, development, and yields. The model can be used to perform real-time and seasonal cost–benefit analysis and for the dynamic optimization of greenhouse climatic parameters.