Nature Outlook Article on Agricultural Modeling features AgMIP Researchers

“Farmers would benefit from better long-range weather forecasts. What else can science provide to help them decide what to plant?” asks Neil Savage in the recently released article in Nature Outlook, “Modelling: Predictive yield”. The article examines factors affecting uncertainty in agricultural systems modelling as well as current efforts to improve the models.

AgMIP PI Jim Jones and AgMIP researcher Joshua Elliott are both featured in the September 26th article discussing their work in crop modeling and AgMIP’s role in comparing and improving the models. Elliott said of the models he uses to understand crop management practices, “I’m interested in the US corn [maize] industry as an important use case for production systems in the rest of the world, …What can it teach us about how to make Africa less drought sensitive?”

Jones explains that if advance warning can be given to farmers, “They may shift their ratio of, say, soybeans to corn [maize], or early planting to late planting.” He also highlighted AgMIP’s work in model intercomparison.

You can read the entire article here.