Modelling crop growth and grain yield in maize cultivation

Publication date: 27/07/2017
Extent: 10 pages

Contributions by: Alam Sher, Xiaoli Liu and Jincai Li, Anhui Agricultural University, China; and Youhong Song, Anhui Agricultural University, China and The University of Queensland, Australia

Chapter synopsis: Drought stress, often accompanied by heat stress, is a major problem for maize cultivation, and these stresses are projected to occur more frequently and to be more severe because of global climate change. It is therefore essential to predict likely drought impacts on maize production, which largely relies on robust crop models. This chapter reviews the principles and development of existing crop models, and examines their scope in predicting the impacts of drought and heat stress under climate change. The emerging challenge for crop modelling is to improve the model’s ability to predict drought or/and heat stress impacts on the determination of kernel number and thus final grain yield in maize cultivation.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2016.0002.01