Modeling physiology of crop development, growth and yield

Abstract

Abstract This book presents quantitative hypotheses for key processes in crop development, growth and yield. The emphasis is on functions that offer comparatively simple hypotheses, yet are appropriate over a range of conditions. The book is organized into four parts. The first part (chapters 1-5) presents fundamental perspectives required in developing crop models. This section also presents examples of how the crop models can be applied to explore important issues in crop improvement and production. The second part (chapters 6-12) develops expressions for crop development (i.e. phenology), growth and partitioning into plant components, including grains. The functions developed in this section are used to assess the potential growth and yield of a crop when it is not limited by the availability of water or nutrients, and there is no limitation as a result of insects, diseases and weeds. The third part (chapters 13-16) accounts for water limitation of specific processes in crop growth. The last part (chapters 17-19) accounts for nitrogen limitation of plant growth processes. Each chapter ends with exercises for the reader to better understand how the functions operate and the implications of adjustments in the parameters of the functions. This book is intended for those who have an interest in the quantitative understanding of crop development, growth and yield, whether or not his primary interest is in constructing a model.