The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) is a set of computer programs for simulating agricultural crop growth.[1] It has been used in over 100 countries by agronomists for evaluating farming methods.[2][3] One application has been assessing the possible impacts on agriculture of climate change and testing adaptation methods.[4]
DSSAT is built with a modular approach, with different options available to represent such processes as evapotranspiration and soil organic matter accumulation, which facilitates testing different representations of processes important in crop growth.[5][6][7] The functionality of DSSAT has also been extended through interfaces with other software such as GIS.[2][8] DSSAT typically requires input parameters related to soil condition, weather, any management practices such as fertilizer use and irrigation, and characteristics of the crop variety being grown.[9] Many common crops have their characteristics already implemented as DSSAT modules.[1]
DSSAT grew out of the International Benchmark Sites Network for Agrotechnological Transfer (IBSNAT) in the 1980s, with the first official release in 1989.[1] Version 4, released in 2003, introduced a more modular structure and added tools for agricultural economic analysis and risk assessment.[1] Development has continued in affiliation with the International Consortium for Agricultural Systems Applications (ICASA).[10]
^ abcdJones, J. W.; Hoogenboom, G.; Porter, C. H.; Boote, K. J.; Batchelor, W. D.; Hunt, L. A.; Wilkens, P. W.; Singh, U.; Gijsman, A. J.; Ritchie, J. T. (2003). "The DSSAT cropping system model". European Journal of Agronomy. 18 (3–4): 235. doi:10.1016/S1161-0301(02)00107-7.
^Gijsman, A.J; Jagtap, S.S; Jones, J.W (2002). "Wading through a swamp of complete confusion: How to choose a method for estimating soil water retention parameters for crop models". European Journal of Agronomy. 18 (1–2): 77–106. doi:10.1016/S1161-0301(02)00098-9.
^White, J. W.; Hunt, L. A.; Boote, K. J.; Jones, J. W.; Koo, J.; Kim, S.; Porter, C. H.; Wilkens, P. W.; Hoogenboom, G. (2013). "Integrated description of agricultural field experiments and production: The ICASA Version 2.0 data standards". Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 96: 1–12. doi:10.1016/j.compag.2013.04.003.