PirMehr Ali Shah

Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi

Office of the controller of Examinations
Final Exam (Practical)/ Spring 2021 (Paper Duration 12 hours)

To be filled by Teacher

Course No.: …AGR-610…………Course Title: ……Crop Growth Modeling…………………………………………

Total Marks:…20 (Practical)…….………………Date of Exam:……15-07-2021…………......................................
Degree: …B.Sc (Hons.) Agronomy………….Semester:…8 th … Section:……………………………………
Marks
Q.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Obtained/
TotalMarks
Marks
Obtained
Total Marks in Words:
Name of the teacher: Dr. Muhammad Naveed Tahir
Who taught the course:Signature of teacher / Examiner:

To be filled by Student

Registration No.: 17-Arid-3135 Name: M. Usama Javed

Q.No.1. Who use DSSAT model and its modules and also discuss the
application of DSSAT model. (3)

Who uses DSSAT and it’s Models:

 Agronomic Researchers

 Extension specialist

 Policy makers

 Farmers and their advisors

 Private sectors

 Educators

 Consultants

Application of DSSAT Model:

DSSAT Model is used for the following purposes,

• It is used in diagnose the Problems (Yield Gap Analysis)

• Used to calculate expected growth and development.

• Used to simulate water and nutrients dynamics in the soil and crop.

• Models are used to simulate, how different weather years or soil conditions affect

crop performance.

• Used in Precision Agriculture

Diagnose Factors Causing Yield Variations

Prescribe Spatially Variable Management

• Used in adaptive Management using Climate Forecasts

• Used in soil Carbon Sequestration

• Land Use Change Analysis

• Targeting Aid include, Early Warning of Food Shortages and Fertilizer vs. Food Aid

Decision

Q.No.2. Discuss in detail the DSSAT standard file format for the given files

(Weather file, Soil file, Crop Management file, Crop Specific file, Pest file and

Economic file (3)

DSSAT File Standards:

DSSAT file standards include,

 File naming convention

 File location

 System communication and information exchange.

DSSAT File Names:

DSSAT file names include,

 Weather files

 Soil files

 Crop management files

 Experimental data files

 Crop specific files

 Pest files

 Economic files

DSSAT Weather File Format:

 .WTH = measured/recorded data

 .WTG = generated data

 UFGA7801.WTH

 GAGR0501.WTH

DSSAT Soil file format:

 Soil file extension: (.SOL)

 Default soil file: (SOIL.SOL)

 Optional soil file: (AA.SOL where AA is the institute code)

• UF.SOL

• GA.SOL

DSSAT Crop Management File Format:

 .ccX where cc is a crop code

.aabbNNnn.SBX

.aabbNNnn.MZX

 UFGA7801.SBX
  GAGR0501.MZX

DSSAT Crop Specific File Format:

 Cultivar: ccmmm040.CUL

 Ecotype: ccmmm040.ECO

 Species: ccmmm040.SPE

Where:

• cc is the crop code (MZ, SB, etc.)

• mm is the model code (CER for CERES, GRO for CROPGRO, etc.)

Maize file format:

 MZCER040.CUL

 MZCER040.ECO

 MZCER040.SPE

Soybean file format:

 SBGRO040.CUL

 SBGRO040.ECO

 SBGRO040.SPE

DSSAT Pest File Format:

 ccmmm040.PST

– PNGRO040.PST, MZCER040.PST

DSSAT Economic File Format:

 PRI extension

• UFGA9801.PRI
Q.No.3. Discuss about the soil input data for model evaluation (2)

Soil input data which helps to model evaluation is,

 Soil moisture at different depths over time

 Soil nitrogen/ carbon or phosphorus at different depths.

 Soil surface information like slope, permeability, drainage, stones.

 Soil profile information like water holding etc.

Q.No.4. Describe DSSAT Cropping System Model (CSM) and what are the different
modules / components of DSSAT model and draw its hierarchical diagram of these
modules / components

(3)

DSSAT Cropping System Model:

DSSAT cropping system model (CSM) design is a modular structure in which components

separate along scientific discipline lines and are structured to allow easy replacement or

addition of modules. It has one Soil module, a Crop Template module which can simulate

different crops by defining species input files, an interface to add individual crop models if

they have the same design and interface, a Weather module, and a module for dealing with

competition for light and water among the soil, plants, and atmosphere. It is also designed

for incorporation into various application packages, ranging from those that help

researchers adapt and test the CSM to those that operate the DSSAT-CSM to simulate

production over time and space for different purposes. In this paper, we describe this new

DSSAT-CSM design as well as approaches used to model the primary scientific components

(soil, crop, weather, and management). The benefits of the DSSAT-CSM will provide

considerable opportunities to its developers and others in the scientific community for
greater cooperation in interdisciplinary research and in the application of knowledge to

solve problems at field, farm, and higher levels.

Modules of DSSAT Model:

There are two types of modules in the DSSAT model.

Primary Modules:

 Weather

 Soil plant atmosphere

 Soil

 Plant and

 Management

Secondary Modules:

Secondary modules are environment modification, planting, harvesting, irrigation,

fertilizer application, residue placement, Tillage, soil temperature, evapotranspiration,

soil dynamic, soil water, soil N, soil P, pest damage.

Q.No.5. Discuss Minimum Data Set (MDS) concept and discuss the use of MDS
in crop production and modeling (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3) in detail. (3)

Minimum Data set:

MDS refers both to the minimum data required to run a crop model and the minimum data
required to evaluate the crop model simulation outputs. Computer models require a set of
input data to be able to operate. Different models require different sets of input data.
Minimum set of data can be relatively easily collected under field conditions and provides
reasonable test of model performance.

Use of MDS In crop production and Modeling:

There are different levels of MDS in crop production and Modeling.

1.Level 1: Appraisal

Data to determine whether the yield was as expected

2. Level 2: Analysis

Data to determine why the yield may not have been as expected

3. Level 3: Knowledge enhancement

Data to improve understanding if analysis as level 2 can not provide clear-cut answers.

MDS specifications:

 For each of these levels, the minimum data necessary can only be specified for a
particular Agro-Ecological Zone.
 For a non-extreme Agro-Ecological Zone, however, the data needs can be specified in
more detail. These specifications were done by IBSNAT

Level 1 data: Model Operation:

Level 1 data is required for environmental as well as for crop management:

1.Environmental data:

Environmental data include weather and soil data l for model operation.

Weather data

• Daily maximum temperature

• Daily minimum temperature

• Precipitation

• Solar radiation

Soil data

• Soil surface information include color, permeability, drainage, stones

• Soil profile information include Water holding characteristics, nitrogen,

organic matter, (phosphorus)

2. Crop management:

Crop management data include,

 Crop
 Cultivar
 Planting date
 Row and plant spacing
 Irrigation (Dates and amount of irrigation)
 Fertilize ( Dates, amount and type of fertilizer)
  Other applications (chemical) and operations (tillage)

Level 2 data: Model Evaluation:

Level 2 data is basically for crop measurements and soil measurements.

1.Crop measurements:

Yield and yield components ( biomass, seed number, seed size, etc.)

Phenology

Phenology includes dates of flowering (50%), physiological maturity, harvest maturity,

first seed, etc.

Growth analysis:

Growth analysis include biomass components (leaf, stem, seeds/grains, etc.) at regular
time intervals.

2. Soil measurements:

Soil measurements include,

 Soil moisture at different depths over time

 Soil nitrogen/carbon/phosphorus at different depths over time

Level 3 data: Model development:

It include following point.

 Level 2 data for model evaluation

 Research reports/publications
 Detailed experiments including Response to temperature, water, nitrogen and
other factors
 Specific experiments to address “knowledge gaps.”

Q.No.6. Describe the history of the DSSAT Cropping system model. (2)

Crop Modeling was started in late 1960’s. The people of that time wanted a method to predict

crop growth and yield to better design management systems and to quantify effects of

weather.

• C. T. de Wit (The Netherlands)

• Bill Duncan, Herb Stapleton, Jerry Lambert, Don Baker, Bob Peart, Bruce Curry (US)
Historical Notes

• Soil Project, technology transfer via soil taxonomy (ended in 1982)

• IBSNAT Project, 1982-93 1983-86 - Minimum Data Set Concept

• Initial models were CERES-Maize, CERES-Wheat and SOYGRO soybean models.

• Data standards for compatibility of models (1986, 1994)

• DSSAT v2.1 released in 1986

• ICASA formed in 1994

• ICASA Re-structured, Fall 2002 – Spring 2003

• DSSAT v3.5 released in 1998 (after project ended)

• DSSAT Cropping System Model, DSSAT v4 released in early 2004

• Version 4.02 in April 2006, v4.5 in 2012, v4.6 in 2014 (this workshop)

IBSNAT Project (1982 – 1993)

• Based at University of Hawaii (G. Uehara, PI; F. Beinroth, Co-PI)

• Funded by USAID

• H. Nix, Joe Ritchie, Barry Dent, Tony Hunt, Paul Teng, Juan Comerma on Technical

Advisory Board

• International Network of Researchers Interested in Applying Systems Tools to Cropping

Systems, and Systems Scientists

• Products:

• DSSAT (now v4.6 is in final testing phase-this workshop)

• Data, Data Standards

• Network of Trained Users (> 2,500)

Q.No.7. Practical performance &Notebook (4)