Thematic issue on agricultural systems modelling and software - part 1

Editorial for Thematic issue of Environmental Modelling & Software. Part I of this Thematic Issue begins with reporting improvements of four established agricultural modelling systems: Holzworth et al. present the evolution of APSIM into an agro-ecosystem framework. Vanuytrecht et al. introduce improvements in AQUACROP for modelling the effects of various stresses on crop development and production. Stöckle et al. report on the evolution of CropSyst to address issues of scale and decision making; while Bergez et al. document the integration of STICS into a generic modelling platform.