Challenges in integrating genetic control in plant and crop models

Predicting genotype-to-phenotype relationships under contrasting environments is a great challenge for plant biology and breeding. Classical crop models have been developed to predict crop yield or product quality under fluctuating environments but they are usually calibrated for a single genotype, restricting the validity range of the model itself. To overcome this limitation, genetic control has to be integrated into crop models and genotype × environment interactions have to be made explicit.