Model

Focus of model

Input parameters for model

Physiological process simulated

Sample References

Crop-Environment Resource Synthesis (CERES)-Maize

Simulate growth and yield

Weather, crop, soil

and management

Phenology, photoperiod, biomass, canopy development, water and nitrogen dynamics

(Araya et al., 2015; Araya et al., 2017)

Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM)

Simulate growth and yield

Temperature, soil, precipitation and solarradiation

Phenology, biomass, canopy, root system, senescence pools, water, nitrogen and phosphorus

(Araya et al., 2015; Kim, Myoung, Stack, Kim, & Kafatos, 2016; Xiao et al., 2016)

Statistical crop yield model

Yield estimation

Radiation, water deficit, average temperature, frost, and heat stress.

Simulate growth, development and yield, the soil and plant water, nitrogen and carbon Balances

(Landman, Engelbrecht, Hewitson, Malherbe, & van der Merwe, 2018)

Cropping Systems Simulation Model (CropSyst)

Simulate growth and yield

Daily weather, soil profile properties and crop management

Daily biomass accumulation

(Abraha & Savage, 2006; Tingem, Rivington, & Colls, 2008 )

World Food Studies (WOFOST) crop model

Simulate growth and yield

Weather data, soil data, crop management data

Light interception, photosynthesis

and respiration, evapotranspiration, leaf area dynamics, phonology and root growth

(Ceglar & Kajfez-Bogataj, 2012; Ogutu, Franssen, Supit, Omondi, & Hutjes, 2018)

AquaCrop

Yield estimation

Weather, crop and characteristics, management practices

Effect of water stress on crop development, crop transpiration ground biomass and yield and water uptake

(Zydelis, Weihermuller, Herbst, Klosterhalfen, & Lazauskas, 2018)

Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT)

Yield estimation

Weather, soil data and crop management data.

Growth, development and yield, the soil and plant water, nitrogen and carbon balances

(Ngwira, Aune, & Thierfelder, 2014)

InfoCrop

Yield estimation

Weather, cultivar, agronomic inputs, soil data

Crop and development, effects of water, nitrogen, temperature, crop-pest interactions, soil water balance

(Choudhary, Patel, Yadav, & Pandey, 2014)

Environmental Policy Integrated Climate model (EPIC)

Yield estimation

Topography, land cover, weather, soil, management, and plant parameters

Biomass to energy ratio, the harvest index, planting density, photosynthetic active radiation, radiation use efficiency factor, and vapor pressure deficit

(Xiong et al., 2016)

General Large Area Model (GLAM)

Yield estimation

Weather, crop parameters, soil properties, management practices

Biomass, harvest index, nutrient deficiency

(Waongo, Laux, & Kunstmann, 2015)

CROPWAT

Determine crop water requirements

Temperature, wind speed, sun-shine hours, relative humidity and rainfall

Crop water requirements

(Diossy, 2008)

Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model

Geographical distribution and climate suitability of species

Bioclimatic variables including annual precipitation, annual temperature

Habitat suitability

(Nabout, Caetano, Ferreira, Teixeira, & Alves, 2012)

4M crop

Yield estimation

Solar radiation, temperature and precipitation

Development and growth

of plants and the heat, water and nutrient balance of the soil

(Fogarasi et al., 2016)

Agro-Integrated Biosphere Simulator (Agro-IBIS)

Yield estimation

solar radiation, temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed, and soil properties

Leaf growth, and soil carbon storage and turnover

(Xu, Twine, & Girvetz, 2016)

AgroMetShell

Yield simulation

Precipitation, potential evapotranspiration

total water requirement, excess soil water, soil water deficit and water satisfaction index

(Crespo, Hachigonta, & Tadross, 2011)