Crop growth modelling on different spatial scales—a wide spectrum of approaches

Abstract

Model-based estimations of yield and biomass accumulation on arable and grass lands can be a very helpful instrument to find answers concerning different scientific or practical yield and biomass questions on different spatial scales. The ideal situation both for model developers and users would certainly be to rely on scale invariant, generic growth models applicable to different questions and spatial scales with the same reliability and controlled by a definitive and widely available set of parameters. However, experience shows that this idea is hardly accomplishable in practice. The present paper discusses the advantages and problems of various crop growth approaches (simple descriptive empirical approaches, logistic growth curve, regression, neuronal network), complex plant physiological based algorithmic models (AGROSIM model family), generic crop growth model for different spatial scales from field plots up to agro-landscapes. In addition, the paper investigates into possibilities of a model transfer to European sites as well as an application at district level for the AGROSIM models.

Keywords:

• Crop growth modelling
• Spatial scales
• Statistic approaches
• Plant physiological based approach
• Generic model
• Winter cereals
• Model transfer

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Regional Planning of the Federal State of Brandenburg (Germany) and the Russian Academy of Agricultural Science. Parts of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Ecological Modelling in Baltimore, Maryland, USA (2 – 6 August 1998) and at the International Conference ‘Agrophysics of the 21st Century’, organized by the Agrophysical Research Institute St. Petersburg, Russia (8 – 12 June 2002).