Mucuna

The mucuna module was developed by Michael Robertson. The reader is referred to the science document for the plant module for a comprehensive description of the processes simulated by APSIM-Mucuna. The paper by Robertson et al. (2004) outlines the science content of the module, and some testing in Malawi. This document outlines some mucuna-specific issues that are not covered by the plant science document.

Notable features of APSIM-MUCUNA

The module simulates the main variety grown in southern Africa – Kalagonda

The module does not simulate production from second and further flushes of flowers and pods.

APSIM-Mucuna is not phosphorus-responsive, this is currently under development.

Crop growth is not sensitive to waterlogging.

Go to generic Plant model documentation

Cultivars and crop classes

There is one crop class.

There is one cultivar able to be simulated: mucuna_gen. This cultivar is typical of that found growing under smallholder conditions in southern Africa.

Validation

APSIM-Mucuna has received testing in Malawi only, with factors such as sowing date and soil types. Table 1 summarises module performance reported by Robertson et al (2004).

Table 1: Observed (O) and simulated (S) biomass at flowering and maturity and grain yield for velvet bean crops used for model testing. All variables are in kg/ha.

Location	Season	DAS^a	Grain yield		Biomass N at maturity		Grain N at maturity		Biomass at flowering			Biomass at maturity
			O	S	O	S	O	S	O	S	O		S
Chitala^b	1998-9	72							848	1623
Chitedze	1998-9	202	2126	2382	256	221	96	102	2374	1791	6848		8609
Chitedze	1997-8	202	2820	2752	314	270	NM^c	NM	7640	4747	10420		9189
Lisasadzi	1998-9	182	2187	1851	163	211	98	83	2401	2628	5418		6268
Makoka	1998-9	181	1343	2352	117	NM	60	105	2610	923	5925		8364
N’gabu	1998-9	173	1852	1643	257	277	83	85	2135	1017	8651		5893

a=days after sowing of maturity harvest

b=crop at Chitala suffered late leaf diseases, therefore only sampling at flowering is recorded

c NM=not measured

In which environments should this module be used with confidence?

APSIM-Mucuna can be used with most confidence in southern Africa. No testing has been done elsewhere.

References

MJ Robertson, Sakala W, Benson T, Shamudzarira Z (2004) Simulating response of maize to previous velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) crop and nitrogen fertiliser in Malawi. Field Crops Research (in press).