Crop Growth Models for Decision Support in the South African Sugarcane Industry

The objectives of this paper are to present progress in crop growth modelling for decision support in the South African sugarcane industry, and to discuss possible directions towards better exploitation of the tools developed at SASRI. It is shown that their dynamic nature and process orientation make simulation models particularly useful as a basis for decision support systems (DSS) in crop management as well as for strategic decision-making. An overview of models and applications developed at SASRI is presented, and possible issues for future developments are discussed. These include possible refinements (e.g. regarding cane quality) and the inclusion of additional management practices (and their economics), such as fertilisation, trashing and ripeners. First and foremost it is necessary to assess actual DSS use and investigate the factors that inhibit (or enhance) adoption. To develop DSS tools that comply with the needs of the industry, potential beneficiaries must be involved from an early stage. This would also improve the synergies between research, model development and decision support.