Objective:
The overall objective of this project is to develop integrated crop simulators for resource management. The specific objectives include the development of modular simulators for major U.S. crops, and evaluation of environmental impacts of global climate change, water quality issues, sustainable agriculture, precision farming, etc. Research areas where knowledge gaps about plant and soil processes limit the accuracy of model predictions.

Approach:
Develop a suite of process level crop simulation models for wheat, potatoes, corn, rice, peanut, cotton, and soybean; and integrate these with models for weeds, diseases, and insects. There are many crop models available; however to date there is no comprehensive crop management system developed for major crops grown in the United States. The selected crops are important to the U.S. economy; in addition they represent a wide range of plant types: C3 and C4, grain root and fiber, legume, and non-legume. From such a suite of models it should be possible to assemble modules capable of simulating many other crops with appropriate parameter changes and additional rate equations to fill up the gaps. The existing models for weeds, diseases, and insects will be further developed and integrated with crop models. In instances where mechanistic models to describe some processes do not exist, or are inadequate, new models of those processes will be developed. Where suitable data are not available, we will conduct experiments to generate needed data.