Cassava is an important crop in terms of food security and income generation in the tropics, ranking fourth in importance as a source of calories in developing countries after wheat, corn and rice (Legg et al. 2014). The MANIHOT-Cassava model was developed from the CROPSIM-Cassava model. The main modifications involved algorithms to represent the development of cassava as an indeterminate crop without key phenological phases (Moreno-Cadena, 2017; Cock et al. 2018). The algorithms for branching, individual node weight, potential leaf size, leaf appearance and leaf duration assume continuous growth with no fixed end of the growth cycle. The model also includes a new water stress factor based on the soil water content instead of the ratio between potential and actual transpiration and which affects the germination, leaf appearance, branching, leaf size and biomass increase (Moreno-Cadena 2017).

The model has been tested with experimental data from Colombia, Vietnam, Thailand and Nigeria (Ramirez-Villegas et al. 2018). Two peer-reviewed publications (Cock et al. 2018; Moreno-Cadena et al. 2018) are in preparation that describe the model and demonstrate its capabilities.

References

Cock, JH, MJ Fisher, LP Moreno-Cadena, D Amariles, JS Soto, and J Ramirez-Villegas. 2018. “MANIHOT: A Process-Based Growth Simulation Model for the Cassava Crop.” In Preparation.

Legg, James, Eklou Attiogbevi Somado, Ian Barker, Larry Beach, Hernan Ceballos, Willmer Cuellar, Warid Elkhoury, et al. 2014. “A Global Alliance Declaring War on Cassava Viruses in Africa.” Food Security 6 (2): 231–48. doi:10.1007/s12571-014-0340-x.

Moreno-Cadena, L.P. 2017. “Modelo de Simulación de Yuca (Manihot Esculenta Crantz) En El Trópico.” Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

Moreno-Cadena, L.P., JH Cock, MJ Fisher, J. Ramirez-Villegas, SD Prager, LA Becerra Lopez-Lavalle, P Pypers, et al. 2018. “Global Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis of the New Cassava Model in DSSAT.” In Preparation.

Ramirez-Villegas, Julian, Daniel A. Amariles, Patricia Moreno, Mayra Toro, Tin M. Aye, James H. Cock, and Myles J. Fisher. 2018. “Towards an Improved Cassava Simulation Model to Aid Management Decisions in the Tropics.” Palmira,Colombia.