Dr. Al Weiss from the University of Nebraska requested for distribution of
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Thank you,

Gerrit




Please ignore the multiple posting of this request. Thanks.

I am contemplating organizing a symposium on modeling and genetics for the
nextmeeting of the American Society of Agronomy which will be held in
Minneapolis, MN, 5-9 November 2000. 

Along with weather, soil, and management inputs; some form of genetic inputs
are required to run a crop simulation model. Usually these genetic inputs
are obtained from field or controlled environmentmeasurements using some form
of an empirical “calibration” procedure. When a
new variety is introduced, the procedure to determine these genetic inputs
mustbe repeated. Also, there will be variability associated with these genetic
inputs as there is no standard evaluation protocol. Having little
understanding of modern plant genetics I put forward this hypothesis: given the
advances in plant genetic research, it is possible to identify specific genes
associated with specific traits. If these genes are known and the traits
quantified, any variety that contains these genes will most likely have a
known response that can be incorporated into a crop simulation model. 
I believe that with this new knowledge, from a biological perspective,
crop modeling will become more mechanistic.

Is anyone doing work in this area? Can anyone recommend speakers for this
symposium? Don't hesitate to forward this message on to anyone that you think
may be interested in this area.  I look forward to your responses.

 Albert Weiss
 SNRS
 P.O. Box 830728
 University of Nebraska
 Lincoln, NE 68583-0728
 (402)472-6761  voice
 (402)472-6614  Fax