Modeling Crop Growth and Biotic Constraints Workshop
October 15-18, 2007
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi
Convened by HarvestChoice and ICRISAT
Topic
Technical Workshop on Strategic Applications of Crop Growth and Biotic Constraint Modeling in Sub-Saharan Africa
Assess the feasibility and process of undertaking landscape- and national-scale evaluation of the spatial and temporal variation in crop yields with experts on crop modeling for, and on biotic and abiotic constraints of, some key crop production systems in sub-Saharan Africa. These specialists will shape the most feasible scope and specification of prototype yield and pest simulation experiments at a regional scale. Specifically, workshop participants will review and make proposals for the characterization of major crop production systems and their major biotic and abiotic crop constraints, and the appropriate representation of such systems and constraints in a modeling framework, given the databases and modeling tools at our disposal. This review includes hands-on evaluation of crop growth and biotic constraints models, in order to arrive at a relevant and tractable set of modeling scenarios, and will also propose an analytical implementation plan by sub-region, crop and constraint.
Participants
Sonya Ahamed, John Dimes, Hugo de Groote, Robert Hijmans, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Patrick Kariuki, Jawoo Koo, Gentian Kostandini, Phil Pardey, KPC Rao, Robert Sutherst, Henri Tonnang, Stanley Wood and Nalan Yuksel.