DSSAT v4.8.6

Latest Version: 4.8.6 (July 2026) | Free of charge!

DSSAT v4.8.6 is now available:

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DSSAT 2026 European Training Program

DSSAT 2026 European Training Program

September 7-12, 2026

Technical University Munich, Germany

25th DSSAT Development Sprint

Hybrid Meeting, IFDC, Muscle Shoals | Aug 10-14, 2026

DSSAT International Training 2026

May 18-23, 2026. University of Georgia, Griffin.

DSSAT Training at Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan

10–13 February 2026

24th DSSAT Development Sprint

Hybrid Meeting, UF, Gainesville | January 5-9, 2026

20th AMEI Development Sprint

Advancing collaboration and interoperability in crop modeling, the DSSAT team hosted the 20th AMEI Development Sprint from January 20–23, 2026, at the Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering (ABE, UF/IFAS) in Gainesville, Florida.

New Book: Current Crop Models – State-of-the-art and Future Developments

 

23rd DSSAT Development Sprint

Hybrid Meeting, UK, Lexington | August 4-8, 2025

DSSAT International Training 2025

May 19-24, 2025. University of Georgia, Griffin.

22nd DSSAT Development Sprint

Hybrid Meeting, UF, Gainesville | January 6-10, 2025

CRAFT: A New Spatial Yield Forecasting Tool

The CCAFS Regional Agricultural Forecasting Toolbox (CRAFT) is a software platform designed for yield forecasting at 5 or 30 arc-minutes spatial resolutions using an ensemble modeling approach. Twenty-three important food and feed crops have been implemented using the DSSAT Cropping System Model as the main crop model engine.

CRAFT is an initiative of CCAFS and was developed in partnership with the University of Florida. It has been successfully applied to forecast the in-season yield of wheat and rice cropping systems in Nepal and Bangladesh.  It has also been evaluated for yield forecasting and climate change applications in West Africa in collaboration with the WASCAL Project, Agrhymet, and the CASCAID Project of ICRISAT.

Read More about CRAFT Download CRAFT v4.0

DSSAT Downloads

Enhancing crop model parameter estimation using the GLUE method and parallel computing

Introducing a new parallel computing system for calibrating genetic parameters within the crop modules of the Cropping System Model (CSM) of DSSAT The Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation Parallelized (GLUEP)

Crop Modeling and Climate Change Postgraduate Course

Training the Next Generation of Crop Modelers for Crop Model Development and Improvement |

March 10-15, 2024

 

Bilateral Project Between Ankara University and the University of Florida on Capacity Building

Ankara University, in collaboration with the University of Florida, developed a project entitled “Capacity Building on the Dissemination of the Use of Agro-technological Decision Support Systems in Agriculture.” The project has been funded by the US Embassy in Türkiye under the auspices of a US-Türkiye bilateral Program.

The DSSAT crop modeling ecosystem

The DSSAT crop modeling ecosystem is one of the oldest and most widely used crop modeling platforms across the world. The success of DSSAT is based on the inclusiveness and participatory approach that has been used since the original development of the CERES and CROPGRO family of models and the emphasis on sharing data and model code. DSSAT is not just a software program, but an ecosystem of:

• Crop model users;
• Crop model trainers;
• Crop model developers;
• Models for the most important food, feed, fiber, and fuel crops;
• Tools and utilities for data preparation;
• Minimum data for model calibration and evaluation; and
• Application programs for assessing real-world problems.

Download the chapter in PDF More info/buy the book

Advances in crop modelling for a sustainable agriculture

This collection summarises key advances in crop modelling, with a focus on developing the next generation of crop and whole-farm models to improve decision making and support for farmers.
Chapters in Part 1 review advances in modelling individual components of agricultural systems, such as plant responses to environmental conditions, crop growth stage prediction, nutrient and water cycling as well as pest/disease dynamics. Building on topics previously discussed in Part 1, Part 2 addresses the challenges of combining modular sub-systems into whole farm system, landscape and regional models. Chapters cover topics such as integration of rotations and livestock, as well as landscape models such as agroecological zone (AEZ) models. Chapters also review the performance of specific models such as APSIM and DSSAT and the challenges of developing decision support systems (DSS) linked with such models. The final part of the book reviews wider issues in improving model reliability such as data sharing and the supply of real-time data, as well as crop model inter-comparison.

Read More… Watch the informative video Buy the bookDownload brochure

Cultivating Food Security in Africa

 

What is DSSAT?

Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) is a windows-based software application program that comprises dynamic crop growth simulation models for over 45 crops. DSSAT is supported by a range of utilities and apps for weather, soil, genetic, crop management, and observational experimental data, and includes example data sets for all crop models. The crop simulation models simulate growth, development and yield as a function of the soil-plant-atmosphere dynamics. DSSAT has been applied to address many real-world problems and issues ranging from genetic modeling to on-farm and precision management, regional assessments of the impact of climate variability and climate change, economic and environmental sustainability, and food and nutrition security. DSSAT has been used for more than 30 years by researchers, educators, consultants, extension agents, growers, private industry, policy and decision makers, and many others in over 198 countries worldwide.  Learn more…

02
Oct

AgMIP11 – Abstract Submission & Registration

By • October 2, 2026 • News & Event • Comments Off on AgMIP11 – Abstract Submission & Registration

AgMIP11 will take place at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya from February 22-26, 2027. The tagline of AgMIP11 is Food System Solutions for a Fragile Planet. The meeting will feature plenary speeches and panels, parallel presentation and poster sessions, working sessions, and side meetings.  AgMIP11 will focus on the following themes: Focus […]

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14
Sep

DSSAT 2026 European Training Program at the Technical University of Munich

By • September 14, 2026 • News & Event, Past Workshops, Workshops • Comments Off on DSSAT 2026 European Training Program at the Technical University of Munich

The DSSAT 2026 European Training Program was held from September 7 to 12, 2026 at the World Agricultural Systems Center – Hans Eisemann Forum of the Technical University of Munich in Freising, Germany. The workshop was attended by more than 25 participants, representing 13 different research and educational centers across Europe. The workshop was hosted […]

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07
Sep

21th Hybrid AMEI Development Sprint

By • September 7, 2026 • News & Event, Past Workshops • Comments Off on 21th Hybrid AMEI Development Sprint

The Agricultural Model Exchange Initiative (AMEI) held a hybrid Development Sprint from 31 August to 4 September 2026. The event was organized in collaboration with the Laboratory of Ecophysiology of Plants under Environmental Stress (LEPSE) of the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE). The sprint focused on advancing AMEI’s mission […]

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23
Aug

25th Hybrid DSSAT Development Sprint at IFDC Advances DSSAT 4.8.6 and Next-Generation Modeling Tools

By • August 23, 2026 • News & Event, Past Workshops • Comments Off on 25th Hybrid DSSAT Development Sprint at IFDC Advances DSSAT 4.8.6 and Next-Generation Modeling Tools

The 25th DSSAT Development Sprint, held from August 10–14, 2026, at the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, brought together an international community of crop modelers, software developers, and agricultural scientists for five days of intensive collaborative development. Hosted by IFDC as a hybrid meeting, the Sprint combined in-person working sessions with virtual participation from researchers […]

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13
Aug

New DSSAT Version 4.8.6 Released

By • August 13, 2026 • News & Event, Releases • Comments Off on New DSSAT Version 4.8.6 Released

The DSSAT model development team has been working hard to enhance the Cropping System Model (CSM) and the DSSAT suite of tools, utilities, and applications. After remarkable progress and bi-annual Development Sprints, we are thrilled to announce the latest advancements. Major Updates in DSSAT Version 4.8.6: The July 2026 release introduces new tools, crop models, and […]

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12
Aug

New Open Access Chapters on Pest/Disease Modeling and Modeling of Nutrient Cycles

By • August 12, 2026 • News & Event, Publications • Comments Off on New Open Access Chapters on Pest/Disease Modeling and Modeling of Nutrient Cycles

Recently two chapters published in the book “Advances in Crop Modeling for a Sustainable Agriculture“, edited by Professor Ken Boote, have recently become available through Open Access. The first chapter is entitled “Improving modeling of nutrient cycles in crop cultivation” by Upendra Singh and Cheryl Porter. This chapter can be obtained from the following link […]

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24
Jun

PhD Fellowship in Crop Modeling at the University of Florida

By • June 24, 2026 • Everything Else, News & Event • Comments Off on PhD Fellowship in Crop Modeling at the University of Florida

The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida has a world-renowned program on the development and application of dynamic crop simulation models. The department is also responsible for the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (www.DSSAT.net), one of the most widely used crop models across the globe. A Graduate Research Fellowship […]

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