The STICS soil-crop model simulates the production and environmental impacts of cropping systems under current and changing climatic conditions. It synthesises a significant share of agronomic knowledge about field and cropping system behaviour. The model algorithms presented in this book mainly draw from literature references in the bioclimatology, soil and crop sciences ; the model also considers most management practices. The book is structured to reflect how the crop-soil system is modelled according to weather conditions and farming practices. Each chapter focuses on a set of important functions, such as plant functioning (development initiation, growth, yield formation, water uptake and transpiration) and soil processes of the water cycle and organic matter transformation and associated fluxes.

This new edition integrates all the STICS updates that have been developed, evaluated and published over the last decade. Thanks to the innovative editorial design of this digital format, modellers can develop a research version of the model and users can track changes in the current version. While this book is primarily intended for soil-crop modellers and agronomists using STICS, its many illustrative examples of the processes involved and case studies of crops and cropping systems may be of interest to a wider audience.