May 2012

Training Workshop on “Assessing Crop Production, Nutrient Management, Climatic Risk and Environmental Sustainability with Simulation Models” at the University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia, USA, 14-19 May 2012

Report from DSSAT by Jagadish Timsina, Consultant to International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and recipient of IPI partial support.

Today, more than ever, increased crop production depends on judicious use of various resources such as water, nutrients (including N, P, and K), and pesticides. In addition, issues such as climate change, climate variability, soil carbon sequestration, biofuels, long-term food security and environmental sustainability have become important issues global issues.

Computer simulation models of the soil/plant/atmosphere system can make a valuable contribution to furthering our understanding of the processes that determine crop responses and predicting crop performance, resource use and environmental impacts for different environments and management scenarios. User-oriented simulation models greatly facilitate the task of optimizing crop growth and deriving recommendations concerning crop management. They can also be used to determine the potential impact of climate change on crop production, soil fertility, system sustainability, or provide management scenarios for adapting to climate change and variability.

International Consortium for Agricultural System Analysis (ICASA), Agricultural Models Intercomparison Project (AgMIP), and Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) Foundation jointly organized an international training workshop “Assessing Crop Production, Nutrient Management, Climatic Risk and Environmental Sustainability with Simulation Models” at the Griffin Campus, University of Georgia from 14 to 19 May 2012. The overall goal of this event was to familiarize participants with comprehensive computer software for the simulation of crop growth and yield, soil and plant water, nutrient and carbon dynamics and their application to real world problems.

Specifically the program focused on: (i) operation of the Windows-based Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) Version 4.5 software (www.DSSAT.net), (ii) description of the DSSAT-Cropping System Model (CSM) and its modules, such as CROPGRO and CERES, and the science embedded in the models, (iii) minimum data requirements and experimental data collection for systems simulation, (iv) integration of crop simulation models with database management and geographical information systems, and (v) application of the DSSAT-CSM model to improve management of cropping systems by optimizing crop, water and nutrients (N, P, and K). Forty-one participants took part from sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe, and Australia.

The program (i) described a practical approach for simulating effects of soil, weather, management, and pest factors on crop production, (ii) demonstrated how processes of crop growth and development, water use, uptake of water and nutrients and carbon dynamics can be simulated, (iii) made extensive use of “hands on” sessions that applied the DSSAT-CSM model to cropping systems, (iv) described procedures for collecting and managing crop, weather and soil data for model calibration and validation, (v) gave participants ample opportunity to work with their own data and determined the accuracy of the models for application to specific problems, (vi) analyzed management alternatives for single seasons or over long-term crop rotations, (vii) concentrated on specific applications that include irrigation, fertilizer and nutrient management, soil carbon sequestration, and climate change and climate variability, and (viii) assessed economic risks and environmental impacts associated with agricultural production.

The program made extensive use of the Windows-based DSSAT-CSM v4.5. CSM is a general cropping­ system model for simulating crop growth and development and soil and plant water, N, P, and K, and carbon dynamics, and includes tools and utility programs for managing soil, weather, genetic, crop, economic and pest data, and application and analysis programs. CSM is comprised of the CROPGRO module for soybean, peanut, common bean, chickpea, faba bean, cowpea, tomato, bahia, bra­chiaria, and cotton, the CERES module for rice, maize, sorghum and millet, the SUBSTOR module for potato, the CROPSIM-CERES module for wheat and barley, the CANEGRO model for sugarcane, and the CROPSIM module for cassava. The CENTURY model for the simulation of soil carbon and nitrogen has also been incorporated in CSM. There is a simple K model within DSSAT-CSM which will be included in the official released version DSSAT v4.6.

The trainers for the workshop were Prof. Jim Jones (University of Florida), Prof. Gerrit Hoogenboom (Washington State University), Prof. Ken Boote (University of Florida), Dr. Upendra Singh (International Fertilizer Development Centre), and Dr. Cheryl Porter (University of Florida). Dr. Jagadish Timsina, a Freelance Consultant based in Melbourne, Australia (and currently a consultant to IRRI) received partial support from IPI to attend this training workshop. Dr. Timsina is also one of the participants at the 12^th International IPI symposium “Management of Potassium in Plant and Soil Systems in China” in cooperation with the China Agricultural University from 24 to 27 July 2012 and is also involved in the evaluation and refinements of the K model embedded within DSSAT 4.6 due for release in early 2013.

Dr. Timsina felt that the workshop provided comprehensive information on systems simulation and the new developments in DSSAT. The workshop was particularly useful in understanding the new developments on the K model which need extensive evaluation and possibly some refinements for its application for K fertilizer recommendations for the intensive cropping systems of smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia.

April 2013

ISSPA 2013, 13^th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis, Queenstown, New Zealand, 8-12 April 2013. The symposium theme is “New Opportunities for Soil and Plant Testing”, with the emphasis on new methodologies and emerging technologies. The program will comprise a mixture of oral and poster presentations. There will be full days of oral sessions on the Tuesday and Thursday, and on the Friday morning. Details of the sessions and topics are available on the symposium website.

July 2013

WSF 2013, the 4^th China International Water Soluble Fertilizer Conference and Exhibition, Beijing, China, 2-4 July 2013, focusing on technological innovation, will give particular attention to technology, innovation and promotion of water soluble fertilizers and their use in Fertigation and Foliar applications systems in China and other regions of the world, in Asia in particular. The event is co-oganized by CNCIC and New Ag International. For more details go to the conference website.

August 2013

17^th International Plant Nutrition Colloquium - Plant nutrition for nutrient and food security, Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC), Turkey, 19-22 August 2013. The main theme of the 17th International Plant Nutrition Colloquium (IPNC) is “Plant nutrition for nutrient and food security”. IPI is sponsoring IPNC (Platinum Sponsor) and will conduct a Special Session on Potassium on 21 August 2013 between 14:00-17:30 h. See more on the program on the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium website.

It is hoped that the colloquium will be an excellent venue for discussion, exchange and transfer of knowledge, as well as for creating new and fostering existing collaborations in the fields of plant mineral nutrition, plant molecular biology, plant genetics, agronomy, horticulture, ecology, environmental sciences and fertilizer use and production. For more information please contact Mr. Michel Marchand, IPI Coordinator WANA and Central Europe.

September 2013

The Second International Sympsium on Agronomy and Physiology of Potato (Potato Agrophysiology 2013), Prague, Czech Republic, 5-19 September 2013. More details on the symposium website.