Development and Validation for a Process-Based Crop Simulation Model for Hardneck Garlic (Allium sativum L.).

Crop models serve as powerful tools regarding their ability to simulate plant growth and yield. In a form of synthesized knowledge of the cropping system, crop models are able to provide comprehensive management suggestions and assist cropping decisions. Despite the extensive research on model development for major crops, there are still crops that deserve more attention in terms of model improvement and development. A process-based crop model was developed in this research specifically for hardneck garlic (Allium sativum L.). Driven by daily climatic data, the model takes phenology, leaf area development, gas exchange, carbon gain and carbon partitioning into account. The model was validated with two cultivars and two planting dates under optimum growing conditions. Phenology, leaf area development and yield outputs were compared with actual field data. Results showed that the model was able to capture overall development and yield patterns. However, the ability to track differences caused by cultivar and planting dates was still lacking. Further improvements are still required for the second stage of model development.