Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinking

Impacts of pest and diseases on crop productivity comprise one of the greatest existential threats to food security in the 21st century. Despite this, crop models have historically adopted an abiotic lens. Here, we reviewed previous methods aimed at modelling effects of pests on crops and revealed a...

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Main Authors: Jamina Bondad, Matthew Tom Harrison, Jeremy Whish, Susan Sprague, Kara Barry
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-04-01
Series:Farming System
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949911923000047
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author Jamina Bondad
Matthew Tom Harrison
Jeremy Whish
Susan Sprague
Kara Barry
author_facet Jamina Bondad
Matthew Tom Harrison
Jeremy Whish
Susan Sprague
Kara Barry
author_sort Jamina Bondad
collection DOAJ
description Impacts of pest and diseases on crop productivity comprise one of the greatest existential threats to food security in the 21st century. Despite this, crop models have historically adopted an abiotic lens. Here, we reviewed previous methods aimed at modelling effects of pests on crops and revealed a dearth of integrated approaches that account for pest lifecycles. The few integrated models that do exist tend to be empirical constructs that discount yield, with models of underpinning pest dynamics being extremely rare. Interaction between pests and crops has tended towards pest-induced reductions in plant biomass, leaf area, light interception and/or photosynthetic rates of infected plants, rather than biological modelling of the pest lifecycle per se. The use of process-based models that couple the pest-host interactions and capture the resource competition between the two are more suited to understanding the complexity of the farming system. Given that management interventions – such as crop rotation, intercropping, sowing time, nitrogen fertilisation, planting density and insecticide or fungicide use – underpin host colonisation success, we solicit advances in the modelling of management decisions to mitigate and manage pest and disease populations. Such information will become ever more crucial as global temperatures and extreme weather events increase in frequency and disease infestation proliferates. Harnessing this integrated weather-pest-crop-management continuum within farming systems models will improve farm management decisions. We conceptualise a framework using the lifecycle of blackleg disease (Leptosphaeria maculans) as an example; however, our approach could be generically adapted to other crop-pest interactions.
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spelling doaj-art-5b162d50b19a49b4ae80eef7c4fc9e6a2024-11-22T07:40:43ZengElsevierFarming System2949-91192023-04-0111100004Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinkingJamina Bondad0Matthew Tom Harrison1Jeremy Whish2Susan Sprague3Kara Barry4Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Newnham Dr, Launceston, TAS, 7248, Australia; CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Brisbane, QLD, 4067, AustraliaTasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Newnham Dr, Launceston, TAS, 7248, Australia; Corresponding author.CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Brisbane, QLD, 4067, AustraliaCSIRO Agriculture and Food, Canberra, ACT, 2601, AustraliaTasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001, AustraliaImpacts of pest and diseases on crop productivity comprise one of the greatest existential threats to food security in the 21st century. Despite this, crop models have historically adopted an abiotic lens. Here, we reviewed previous methods aimed at modelling effects of pests on crops and revealed a dearth of integrated approaches that account for pest lifecycles. The few integrated models that do exist tend to be empirical constructs that discount yield, with models of underpinning pest dynamics being extremely rare. Interaction between pests and crops has tended towards pest-induced reductions in plant biomass, leaf area, light interception and/or photosynthetic rates of infected plants, rather than biological modelling of the pest lifecycle per se. The use of process-based models that couple the pest-host interactions and capture the resource competition between the two are more suited to understanding the complexity of the farming system. Given that management interventions – such as crop rotation, intercropping, sowing time, nitrogen fertilisation, planting density and insecticide or fungicide use – underpin host colonisation success, we solicit advances in the modelling of management decisions to mitigate and manage pest and disease populations. Such information will become ever more crucial as global temperatures and extreme weather events increase in frequency and disease infestation proliferates. Harnessing this integrated weather-pest-crop-management continuum within farming systems models will improve farm management decisions. We conceptualise a framework using the lifecycle of blackleg disease (Leptosphaeria maculans) as an example; however, our approach could be generically adapted to other crop-pest interactions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949911923000047ModelFarming systemProcess-based modellingLeptosphaeria maculansBrassica napusPest
spellingShingle Jamina Bondad
Matthew Tom Harrison
Jeremy Whish
Susan Sprague
Kara Barry
Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinking
Farming System
Model
Farming system
Process-based modelling
Leptosphaeria maculans
Brassica napus
Pest
title Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinking
title_full Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinking
title_fullStr Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinking
title_full_unstemmed Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinking
title_short Integrated crop-disease models: New frontiers in systems thinking
title_sort integrated crop disease models new frontiers in systems thinking
topic Model
Farming system
Process-based modelling
Leptosphaeria maculans
Brassica napus
Pest
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949911923000047
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AT matthewtomharrison integratedcropdiseasemodelsnewfrontiersinsystemsthinking
AT jeremywhish integratedcropdiseasemodelsnewfrontiersinsystemsthinking
AT susansprague integratedcropdiseasemodelsnewfrontiersinsystemsthinking
AT karabarry integratedcropdiseasemodelsnewfrontiersinsystemsthinking