APSIM
APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) is a farming systems model that simulates the effects of environmental variables and management decisions on crop yield, profits and ecological outcomes.
- Who this tool is for
- Questions this tool answers
- What this tool does
- Inputs
- Outputs
- Reliability
- History
- Support available
- Where to get it
- Cost
Read about our selection process for including tools on Climate Kelpie
Who this tool is for
APSIM is not designed for use by farmers but it underpins other decision-making tools for farmers, extension officers, government agencies and agribusiness analysts, such as:
Questions this tool answers
What does my crop yield look like under a range of variable inputs, including climate attributes, soil moisture, soil type, and soil nutrient status?
What this tool does
APSIM predicts crop yield for different climate attributes, plant varieties, soil types and management decisions.
It has three modules:
- Plant – it handles a diverse range of crops, pastures and trees
- Soil – it handles soil processes including water balance, nitrogen and phosphorus transformations, soil pH and erosion
- Management – it handles the full range of management controls including sowing, fertilising, irrigation, tillage and rotations
Inputs
APSIM needs good climate data (maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall and solar radiation) and good soil characterisation data.
You need to input weather data. SILO is a good source of weather data for Australia.
Extensive soil datasets for much of Australia's cropping regions are supplied with APSIM.
Outputs
APSIM produces predictions of yield and other biological and physical processes within the farming system according to the climate, soil and management inputs. Figures 1 and 2 show example outputs.
Figure 1: The predicted yield from a sorghum crop according to three levels of fertiliser input (Source: APSIM Training Package)
Figure 2: The effect of residue type on the speed of decomposition (Source: APSIM Training Package)
Reliability
APSIM predictions have been extensively validated against real observed crop and soil data.
This validation work is published in a number of journal articles.
History
APSIM is owned by the APSIM Initiative, an unincorporated joint venture between CSIRO, Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries and The University of Queensland.
This joint venture will soon be open to new parties to join. The aim is to support the ongoing development and maintenance of APSIM.
Support available
The APSIM Initiative is responsible for all APSIM development and support. It also provides training.
There is a Google Group for APSIM where you can ask the developers and other users about APSIM.
A training manual can be downloaded from the APSIM website.
Where to get it
Web: APSIM
Cost
Free