Zhigan Zhao

Research Scientist

Dr Zhigan Zhao is a crop modeller in the Climate Smart Agriculture group.  Zhigan’s research mainly focused on development and application of process-based crop model APSIM and use it to solve real world problem, i.e. investigating the impact of crop traits (early vigour, tin, Rhts genes etc.) on wheat yield, and exploring new approaches to increase crop productivity while reducing the negative impact on the environment. His current research activities include:

• Simulation modelling of the genotype by environment by management (GxExM) interactions of wheat, with a key focus on modelling physiology linking to functional genomics,
• Improved modelling and new model development for simulation of crop (wheat and barley) flowering time within GRDC founded project ‘National Phenology Initiative (NPI)’,
• New model development for simulating impact of physiological traits associated with early vigour, early establishment, grain filling and NUE within the CSIRO-SIP project ‘SIP Genetics and systems analysis to improve NUE’,
• Productivity and sustainability of cropping systems in North China Plain, within the CSIRO-CAAS funded project,
• CSIRO representative of Apsim Next Generation modelling in the AgMIP-Wheat International Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project,
• AgMIP-Wheat, AgMIP-Maize, AgMIP-Soil and AgMIP-Crop Rotations, AgMIP-C3MP, within the International Agricultural Model Inter-comparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), and
• MACSUR-CropM Upscaling and Response Surface activities within the Modelling European Agriculture with Climate Change for Food Security (MACSUR).

Follow Zhigan’s research on Google Scholar and ORCiD

Contact Zhigan: Zhigan.Zhao@csiro.au