An overview of APSIM, a model designed for farming systems simulation

Keating, B A and Carberry, P S and Hammer, G L and Probert, M E and Robertson, M J and Holzworth, D and Huth, N I and Hargreaves, J N G and Meinke, H and Hochman, Z and McLean, G and Verburg, K and Snow, V and Dimes, J P and Silburn, M and Wang, E and Brown, S and Bristowc, K L and Asseng, S and Chapman, J and McCown, R L and Freebairn, D.M. and Smith, C.J. (2003) An overview of APSIM, a model designed for farming systems simulation. European Journal of Agronomy, 18 (3-4). pp. 267-288. ISSN 1161-0301

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Abstract

The Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) is a modular modelling framework that has been developed by the Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit in Australia. APSIM was developed to simulate biophysical process in farming systems, in particular where there is interest in the economic and ecological outcomes of management practice in the face of climatic risk. The paper outlines APSIM's structure and provides details of the concepts behind the different plant, soil and management modules. These modules include a diverse range of crops, pastures and trees, soil processes including water balance, N and P transformations, soil pH, erosion and a full range of management controls. Reports of APSIM testing in a diverse range of systems and environments are summarised. An example of model performance in a long-term cropping systems trial is provided. APSIM has been used in a broad range of applications, including support for on-farm decision making, farming systems design for production or resource management objectives, assessment of the value of seasonal climate forecasting, analysis of supply chain issues in agribusiness activities, development of waste management guidelines, risk assessment for government policy making and as a guide to research and education activity. An extensive citation list for these model testing and application studies is provided.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Farming systems modelling; APSIM; Simulation model
Subjects:	Others > Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
Depositing User:	Mr Sanat Kumar Behera
Date Deposited:	23 Sep 2012 07:11
Last Modified:	23 Sep 2012 07:11
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/6139
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1161-0301(02)00108-9
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	We are grateful to the many colleagues who have shared their data for model development/testing and their approaches to modelling plant and soil processes. While we have tried to recognise the efforts of the development team in the authorship of this paper, there are many others not recognised who have made significant contributions to the utility of the current product. We acknowledge in particular the effort of Drs Val Veraart and Sid Wright, who taught us the value of software engineering. We also acknowledge the inputs of collaborating institutions, in particular CSIRO Plant Industry, CRC for Sustainable Sugar Production, ICRISAT, CIMMYT, TSBF and Australian agribusiness and farmers. While APSIM has been developed with core resources from CSIRO and the Queensland State Government, funding for its application has been critical to its development and in particular we acknowledge support from Grains R&D Corp., Rural Industries R&D Corp., Sugar R&D Corp., Land and Water Australia and Australian Center for International Agricultural Research.
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