Development of an oil palm cropping systems model: Lessons learned and future directions

Oil palm has become one of the most important crops in the world with questions being raised about its economic and environmental sustainability. Agricultural systems models are regularly employed in studying sustainable crop management but no detailed model is currently available for oil palm systems. We developed a production systems model for oil palm within the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) framework and tested it using data across a range of environments within Papua New Guinea (PNG). The model captured key growth responses to climate and management. This demonstrates that modern modelling frameworks do allow for rapid model development for new agricultural systems. However, whilst application of the model is promising, the availability of key data is likely to restrict its use. Local soil and weather data are not available in adequate detail for many of the major oil palm production areas, although some methods exist to address this. Crown Copyright © 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Software availability Software name: APSIM-Oil Palm Developer: Neil Huth Contact address: CSIRO (Toowoomba, Australia) (neil.huth@ csiro.au) Year first official release: 2014 Software requirements: APSIM version 7.6 or higher System requirements: Microsoft Windows (XP or later) Availability: www.apsim.info Licence: APSIM is freely available for non-commercial use which includes public-good research & development and educational activities Documentation and support for users: APSIM online training and documentation, example simulations, APSIM User Forum (www.apsim.info).