Whither crop physiology?

Abstract

In crop physiology, as in many other disciplines, the degree of understanding varies across fields. Patchiness in the coverage of any particular field becomes more obvious as the limits of the selected field are broadened, and judgments as to relative progress when comparing fields can become highly subjective. Some of this patchiness results from an inherent difficulty in methods but most of it stems from current perceptions of the relative importance of different fields in plant and crop sciences. Crop simulation models improved to incorporate new knowledge about soils, crop physiology, and atmospheric processes continue to act as powerful tools for integrating information about the many processes underlying the formation and realization of yield. Also, these models continue to prove irreplaceable in exploring new situations (such as the one that can arise from alterations in agronomic practice) and in providing multiyear and multienvironment perspectives impossible to obtain by direct experimentation.