Instructor(s): Haishun Yang
Number of Credit Hours: 3
Cross-listings: NRES 906
Prerequisites: PLAS 325 Introductory Plant Physiology or equivalent. Recommended: PLAS 406, AGRO 806, NRES 406/806, HORT 806 Plant Ecophysiology or equivalent.
Description: Understanding and use of crop simulation models and ability to build crop models. Studying principles and quantitative descriptions of crop production ecology. Offered fall semester of odd-numbered calendar years.
Learning Outcomes/Course Objectives: Crop growth and yield modeling is a systematic approach and powerful tool for gaining quantitative and mechanistic understanding of crop-weather-soil-management relationship and interactions, as well as for helping improve and optimize crop management based on growing season environment characteristics and crop management options. During the course, principles of theoretical crop production ecology will be explained using state-of-the-art crop simulation models. Structure of crop models and simulation techniques will be illustrated. Applications of crop simulation models will also be demonstrated using practical examples. Student will have the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of running simulations of wide range of scenarios for corn and soybean growth and yield, interpreting simulation results to serve various purposes, and construct a crop growth simulation model on a spreadsheet platform.