Modeling wheat harvest index as a function of date of anthesis

A plant growth model developed by Volk and colleagues was modified to partition plant mass production after anthesis into grain and inedible biomass. Using data on wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown in the NASA CELSS Biomass Production Chamber to supply constants for the model, we showed that delaying the date of anthesis 7 days resulted in a 20% decrease in the harvest index. Multiple model components were then assembled to demonstrate the effect of an environmental system failure.