Cropbox: a declarative crop modeling framework

Abstract

Crop models mirror our knowledge on crops in silico. Therefore, crop modeling inherits common issues of software engineering and often suffers from technical debts. We introduce a new crop modeling framework: Cropbox as a declarative domain-specific language. Recognizing that a crop model is fundamentally an integrated network of generalized state variables, we developed the framework to encapsulate abstract primitives for representing variables, systems, and functions that are essential to crop modeling workflows. With a constrained syntax, high-level model specifications are automatically translated into low-level host code written in Julia programming language. This allows complex crop models to become more accessible and transparent for modelers to build and use. We highlight key capabilities of the Cropbox framework through specific case studies featuring a coupled leaf gas-exchange model and a process-based crop simulation model. We also illustrate potential extensions of the framework to support functional-structural plant modeling (FSPM) using a 3D root architectural model as an example.