Calibration and validation of a model for the prediction of biomass and nutrient uptake of a tomato (cv. Pisanello) grown in a greenhouse soilless cultivation system

The paper presents the research activity done in the framework of the iGUESS-MED project with the goal to calibrate and validate a Decision Support System (DSS) implemented in the greenhouse climate station OPI-EVJA based on the climate data measured (inside global radiation, air temperature) and the model VegSyst developed from the University of Almeria. Using the measured parameters in the greenhouse, the system simulates daily biomass production, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium uptake and evapotranspiration of a tomato crop. In this work, the VegSyst model was calibrated and validated on two soilless tomato cultivations performed in the experimental greenhouse of DAFE-University of Pisa in the spring 2021 and 2022. The simulation of the total crop biomass, as well as, the uptake of N, K and Ca was adequately simulated, while for P and Mg the performance of the simulation model was lower, due probably to different soil root zone growing conditions and, in this case, a new calibration was done for both P and Mg.