TITLE:
Dynamic modeling of mineral contents in greenhouse tomato crop
AUTHORS:
Antonio Juárez-Maldonado, Adalberto Benavides-Mendoza, Karim de-Alba-Romenus, América B. Morales-Díaz
KEYWORDS:
Licopersicon Esculentum; Mathematical Modeling; Simulation; Crop Growth; Nutrition Management
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.5 No.2,
January
27,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Tomato is one the
most important vegetables worldwide and mineral nutrition in tomato crops is
considered as the second most important factor in crop management after water
availability. Mathematical modeling techniques allow us to design strategies
for nutrition management. In order to generate the necessary information to
validate and calibrate a dynamic growth model, two tomato crop cycles were
developed. Several mineral analyses were performed during crop development to
determine the behavior of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S in different organs of the
plant. Regression models were generated to mimic the behavior of minerals in
tomato plants and they were included in the model in order to simulate their
dynamic behavior. The results of this experiments showed that the growth model
adequately simulates leaf and fruit weight (EF > 0.95 and Index > 0.95).
As for harvested fruits and harvested leaves, the simulation was less efficient
(EF