Just a quick thanks to all those who responded to our queries on the
applications of crop models, particularly in developing countries. There
were a lot of interesting and helpful replies, and I apologise for not being
able at the moment to acknowledge everyone personally. We are currently
putting all of this together into a report for DFID at the end of March, and
hope to make it available in PDF format over the WWW sometime after that,
subject to DFID's approval, of course.

Robin Matthews.

=========
Dr Robin Matthews
Institute of Water and Environment
Cranfield University, Silsoe, Bedfordshire MK45 4DT, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1525 863008; Fax: +44 (0)1525 863384
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.silsoe.cranfield.ac.uk/iwe/people/RobinMatthews.htm
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rbmatthews/
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> Following on from last years' discussion on this topic on this listserver,
> we are currently carrying out a review for the UK Department for
> International Development (DFID) on the applications of crop simulation
> models with particular reference to developing countries. We are
> considering
> these applications under the three broad headings of (a) Tools to aid
> Research, (b) Tools to aid Decision Making (at all levels from policy
> making
> to farmer), and (c) Tools for Education, Training and Technology Transfer.
>
> Our efforts so far have shown that most of the documented applications of
> simulation models have been in research, although we recognise that this
> may
> be more of a reflection of the literature we have scanned. There seems to
> have been limited success in incorporating such models into decision
> support
> systems (DSS), mostly in pest/disease management. It seems to us that
> inadequate thought has gone into the types of decisions that farmers might
> make - most are on the basis of 'rules-of-thumb' developed over years of
> practical experience, and most of the crop responses to variability in the
> decisions made are relatively flat (e.g. it doesn't matter within a couple
> of weeks or so when fertiliser is applied), so that the extra 'precision'
> gained through use of a DSS is of no practical use for a farmer. This may
> be
> the case particularly with farmers in developing countries, where there is
> very little 'real' decision making to be done (i.e. planting is dictated
> by
> the onset of rains, fertiliser application is dictated by when it arrives
> on
> the farm, weeding when labour is available, etc.). We have also been
> unable
> to find much published information on the use (success or otherwise) of
> crop
> simulation models in education and teaching.
>
> We would like to ask subscribers of DSSAT, therefore,
> 1.      Do you agree with our assessment of DSS; if not, are you aware of
> any successful applications of crop simulation models in this area?
> 2.      For those in education, do you use crop simulation models in your
> teaching? If so, what are your experiences? Do you teach the use of
> specific
> models (e.g. DSSAT, MACROS, etc.), or do you use models to illustrate
> principles (say of crop physiology)? What do you see are the benefits of
> using models? What are the limitations of the models you have used? Have
> you
> had to make any modifications to the models to make them more suitable for
> the purpose? What is the response of your students to using models to
> learn?
> We are particularly interested in the experiences of educators in
> developing
> countries (although not exclusively) in using models.