Simulation of nitrogen uptake from soil and partitioning in potato plants: model description and sensitivity analysis

Abstract

Abstract. A model is presented describing nitrogen transport and biochemical transformations in soil, the uptake of N by the potato crop and its partitioning between the plant organs. The model enhances an earlier model of the potato crop, which described the grows of leaves, stems, roots and tubers as affected by meteorological conditions assuming of optimal nitrogen status in the plants. Coupling these two submodels enabled a simulation of the influence of N fertilization (amount of N applied, timing offertilization and the kind of the fertilizer) on the yield oftubers and on nitrate concentration in the tubers. A detailed sensitivity analysis was performed, which identified the most critical parameters in the model for its calibration under different environmental and managerial conditions.