Abstract Chicory has been promoted as an alternative forage crop for livestock farming. It can produce large biomass yields and is highly palatable to animals. However, managing forage chicory in pastoral farms can be challenging because of its growth pattern and low persistence. There is thus a need for modelling tools that can help to understand and manage forage chicory within the farm system. In this work we review the main botanical characteristics of the chicory plant and describe a model developed to simulate the phenology and biomass accumulation of chicory as forage. The model was developed using the Plant Model Framework and it is available for use within the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator. Four experiments with treatments including the use of irrigation, different N fertiliser rates, and defoliation regimes, were used to test the model. We show that the model was able to simulate the biomass accumulation pattern, with R2 values of 0.40-0.54 for standing above-ground biomass and 0.64-0.89 for cumulative harvested material. The performance was weaker when describing plant nitrogen, with R2 of 0.20-0.25 for N content in the above-ground biomass. This indicates that care must be taken when using the model to simulate N balance, and that model refinements are required. For this, more information is needed on the partitioning and mobilisation of N amongst the various organs and on how biomass allocation changes across seasons.

中文翻译：

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草料菊苣模型：开发和评估

摘要 菊苣已被推广为畜牧业的替代饲料作物。它可以产生大量的生物质产量，对动物来说非常可口。然而，由于其生长模式和低持久性，在牧区管理草料菊苣可能具有挑战性。因此，需要建模工具来帮助理解和管理农场系统内的草料菊苣。在这项工作中，我们回顾了菊苣植物的主要植物学特征，并描述了一个模型，用于模拟作为草料的菊苣的物候和生物量积累。该模型是使用植物模型框架开发的，可用于农业生产系统模拟器。四个处理实验，包括使用灌溉、不同施氮量和落叶制度，被用来测试模型。我们表明该模型能够模拟生物量积累模式，立地生物量的 R2 值为 0.40-0.54，累积收获材料的 R2 值为 0.64-0.89。描述植物氮时表现较弱，地上生物量中氮含量的R2为0.20-0.25。这表明在使用模型模拟 N 平衡时必须小心，并且需要对模型进行改进。为此，需要更多关于 N 在各个器官中的分配和动员以及生物量分配如何跨季节变化的信息。描述植物氮时表现较弱，地上生物量中氮含量的R2为0.20-0.25。这表明在使用模型模拟 N 平衡时必须小心，并且需要对模型进行改进。为此，需要更多关于 N 在各个器官中的分配和动员以及生物量分配如何跨季节变化的信息。描述植物氮时表现较弱，地上生物量中氮含量的R2为0.20-0.25。这表明在使用模型模拟 N 平衡时必须小心，并且需要对模型进行改进。为此，需要更多关于 N 在各个器官中的分配和动员以及生物量分配如何跨季节变化的信息。