EFFECTS OF POWDERY MILDEW AND WEATHER ON WINTER-WHEAT YIELD .1. VARIATION OF WEATHER BETWEEN YEARS

A vital question to upgrade disease management systems is whether damage functions, established in years with specific weather conditions, can be applied also in other years. A simulation approach was used to explore effects of weather on yield and damage. Two existing models of wheat and a third, a combination of both, were used to compute yield, first in absence of mildew. In a second paper, effects of mildew will be reported. Yields simulated for different years were not significantly correlated with yields harvested, adjusted for their increase over years, in the Netherlands. Differences in performance between the models could be attributed to the method of simulating development and growth early in the cropping season. © 1990 Koninklijke Nederlandse Planteziektenkundige Vereniging.