Simulation of the biomass production of winter wheat and comparison with measured data for locations in different climatic regions

Abstract

From 1972 to 1976 an experiment with wheat was carried out by members of the Commission for Agricultural Meteorology of the World Meteorological Organization. A photoperiodic indifferent variety of wheat was grown at eleven experimental sites in different climatic regions. The meteorological and yield data were used to test the applicability of two simulation models, a relatively simple one for winter wheat and a complex model for maize that had been changed to correspond to the physiological properties of a C3-plant. Comparing simulated and measured yield of dry matter, it is found that neither model is generally valid for climates under which wheat is normally grown. The question of how the processes of tillering, formation of ears and of weight of 1000 kernels can be treated in a model remains open.