Understanding Options for Agricultural Production

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Overview of IBSNAT

   • G. Uehara, G. Y. Tsuji

   Pages 1-7

3. Data for model operation, calibration, and evaluation

   • L. A. Hunt, K. J. Boote

   Pages 9-39

4. Soil water balance and plant water stress

   • J. T. Ritchie

   Pages 41-54

5. Nitrogen balance and crop response to nitrogen in upland and lowland cropping systems

   • D. C. Godwin, U. Singh

   Pages 55-77

6. Cereal growth, development and yield

   • J. T. Ritchie, U. Singh, D. C. Godwin, W. T. Bowen

   Pages 79-98

7. The CROPGRO model for grain legumes

   • K. J. Boote, J. W. Jones, G. Hoogenboom, N. B. Pickering

   Pages 99-128

8. Modeling growth and development of root and tuber crops

   • U. Singh, R. B. Matthews, T. S. Griffin, J. T. Ritchie, L. A. Hunt, R. Goenaga

   Pages 129-156

9. Decision support system for agrotechnology transfer: DSSAT v3

   • J. W. Jones, G. Y. Tsuji, G. Hoogenboom, L. A. Hunt, P. K. Thornton, P. W. Wilkens et al.

   Pages 157-177

10. Modeling and crop improvement

    • J. W. White

    Pages 179-188

11. Simulation as a tool for improving nitrogen management

    • W. T. Bowen, W. E. Baethgen

    Pages 189-204

12. The use of a crop simulation model for planning wheat irrigation in Zimbabwe

    • J. F. Macrobert, M. J. Savage

    Pages 205-220

13. Simulation of pest effects on crops using coupled pest-crop models: the potential for decision support

    • P. S. Teng, W. D. Batchelor, H. O. Pinnschmidt, G. G. Wilkerson

    Pages 221-266

14. The use of crop models for international climate change impact assessment

    • C. Rosenzweig, A. Iglesias

    Pages 267-292

15. Evaluation of land resources using crop models and a GIS

    • F. H. Beinroth, J. W. Jones, E. B. Knapp, P. Papajorgji, J. Luyten

    Pages 293-311

16. The simulation of cropping sequences using DSSAT

    • W. T. Bowen, P. K. Thornton, G. Hoogenboom

    Pages 313-327

17. Risk assessment and food security

    • P. K. Thornton, P. W. Wilkens

    Pages 329-345

18. Incorporating farm household decision-making within whole farm models

    • G. Edwards-Jones, J. B. Dent, O. Morgan, M. J. McGregor

    Pages 347-365

19. Network management and information dissemination for agrotechnology transfer

    • G. Y. Tsuji

    Pages 367-381

20. Crop simulation models as an educational tool

    • R. A. Ortiz

    Pages 383-388

The first premise of this book is that farmers need access to options for improving their situation. In agricultural terms, these options might be manage­ ment alternatives or different crops to grow, that can stabilize or increase household income, that reduce soil degradation and dependence on off-farm inputs, or that exploit local market opportunities. Farmers need a facilitating environment, in which affordable credit is available if needed, in which policies are conducive to judicious management of natural resources, and in which costs and prices of production are stable. Another key ingredient of this facilitating environment is information: an understanding of which options are viable, how these operate at the farm level, and what their impact may be on the things that farmers perceive as being important. The second premise is that systems analysis and simulation have an impor­ tant role to play in fostering this understanding of options, traditional field experimentation being time-consuming and costly. This book summarizes the activities of the International Benchmark Sites Network for Agrotechnology Transfer (IBSNAT) project, an international initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). IBSNAT was an attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of understanding options through systems analysis and simulation for the ultimate benefit of farm households in the tropics and subtropics. The idea for the book was first suggested at one of the last IBSNAT group meetings held at the University of Hawaii in 1993.

• food security
• nitrogen
• soil
• system
• water stress
• wheat

`... it is a `must' book for current or potential users of the DSSAT system and it also could be recommended for research scientists interested in developing and applying crop models and decision support systems in agriculture. This is a good book and it would be a valuable contribution to relevant libraries.'
Plant Growth Regulation, 26 (1998)

• University of Hawaii-Manoa, Honolulu, USA

  Gordon Y. Tsuji

• Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, The University of Georgia, USA

  Gerrit Hoogenboom

• International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya

  Philip K. Thornton

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