Introduction: System models integrated with experiments can be useful tools to develop improved management practices for subsistence farming to address increased intensification and climate change

Authors: Timlin, Dennis; Anapalli, Saseendran

Submitted to: Advances in Modeling Agricultural Systems
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/2021
Publication Date: 4/20/2022
Citation: Timlin, D.J., Anapalli, S.S. 2022. Introduction: System models integrated with experiments can be useful tools to develop improved management practices for subsistence farming to address increased intensification and climate change. Advances in Modeling Agricultural Systems. 9:1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780891183891.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780891183891

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Agriculture in many countries where subsistence farming is dominant is facing increasing pressure from growing populations and climate change. New management practices and varieties will be needed to meet these demands and help agriculture adapt to changes in the environment. One approach to address these challenges is to use crop simulation models. Such models are important tools that can be used to assess crop response to management and climate change. Crop models encapsulate the main processes involved in plant growth and development in the form of computer algorithms that are developed from laboratory, growth chamber and field research results. These models can be used to vary management variables, crop cultivar properties, and environmental variables such as weather and soil to investigate crop response to the environment and management. This chapter is a summary of papers in a volume that presents a number of examples demonstrating how crop simulation models can be used in subsistence agriculture to augment research results from field research. This will result in improved crop management practices that will increase the resilience and sustainability of these systems. The effects of climate change and increased intensification of land use on subsistence and low input agriculture are expected to be severe due to lack of research on alternative management practices and limited resources for farmers. However, most of the simulation studies in this book show that increased diversification through crop rotations and use of alternative crops can decrease the variability caused by climate change and result in decreased impact of heat and water stress.