Development of a morphogenetic model from field and lab data: modeling the seed number per node on a pea stem

Crop models can be used for many purposes (Boote et al 1996). They may help to interpret experimental results, to understand interactions of numerous factors in crop growth and production, and to support farmers in decision making. For these different aims, models must give a realistic representation of the complex reality. On the one hand, a crop growth model must be comparable to data from the field, e.g. by giving a good account of the reality. In addition, it must allow to take results from experimental data into account, so that description of the natural phenomena (model structure and parameters) can be derived from observation rather than from speculation (Monteith 1996).