E-grāmata: Enhancing Agricultural Research and Precision Management for Subsistence Farming by Integrating System Models with Experiments

"Environmental concerns of the general public, droughts, and climate change effects require continual adaptation and optimization of agricultural systems through changes in cropping and management. Advancement of science and technology to achieve these changes requires cutting-edge field research, using a quantitative whole-system approach. Process-based models of agricultural systems integrated with field research provide such a systems approach. The models help: 1) quantify field research results in terms of the fundamental theory and concepts that are broadly applicable beyond the site-specific empirical relationships, 2) predict experimental results from knowledge of the fundamental factors that determine the environment and plant growth under different climates, 3) extend the experimental results to longer term weather conditions beyond the limited duration of the field experiments and to other soil types and climates in the area outside the experimental plots, and 4) use extended results to developbroad-based precision management decision support tools or simple management guidelines for producers and other users, which may include linkage to economic and social considerations. As a result, the models are also continually improved and serve as an evolving theoretical backbone of complex agricultural system research and information transfer. In the last three decades, considerable progress has been made on the applications of models for evaluating and improving current agricultural systems for optimal management of water, nutrients, and cultivar resources under varying climates, especially in developed countries. Importantly, these applications were made in collaboration with field research scientists at several locations. Key areas of further trans-disciplinary research, synthesis, and improvement of the modeling backbone have also been identified"--

Enhancing Agricultural Research and Precision Management for Subsistence Farming

Insightful applications of crop system models to developing countries to explore climate change mitigation and management decision tools

Enhancing Agricultural Research and Precision Management for Subsistence Farming by Integrating System Models with Experiments delivers an authoritative collection of applications of crop system models to Asian and African environments and evaluates current agricultural systems in developing nations. The book provides models to assist in the precision management of soil, water, fertilizers and manures, soil organic matter, alternative crops, and cultivars in both rainfed and irrigated systems.

Contributions cover recent and ongoing research in knowledge gap areas such as modeling the long-term effect of management soil health, the effect of extreme temperatures and drought on evapotranspiration and crop growth, root growth and the uptake of water and nutrients. The book also includes

• An introduction to system models integrated with experiments as tools to develop improved management practices for subsistence farming
• Explorations of models of soil erosion impacts and trade-offs for sustainable land management practices in Kenya
• Discussions of the crop simulation model as a tool to quantify the effects of crop management practices in northern Ethiopia
• In-depth examinations of models of water dynamics for assessing and managing ecosystem services in India

Perfect for field research scientists and graduate students studying cropping and range systems, and essential reading for agricultural consultants, progressive farmers, plant breeders, and policymakers.

Advances in Agricultural Systems Modeling
Transdisciplinary Research, Synthesis, and Applications
Lajpat R. Ahuja, Series Editor

Agricultural system modeling has made substantial progress, but there are still many critical gaps in our knowledge. The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America are taking a leadership role with the initiation of this new series. Future breakthroughs in science and technology lie at the boundaries of disciplines. The new series will

• Advance critical transdisciplinary research, and its synthesis and quantification
• Encourage collaboration among top researchers in building and improving models
• Promote the application of system models to solve practical problems
• Achieve better instruction in these models and their applications