XPlantGL: A Software of Functional-Structural Plant Modelling for Crops
Abstract:
This paper presents XPlantGL, a Matlab-based software for functional-structural plant model (FSPM) derived from the GreenLab model, designed for addressing the practical limitations of existing FSPM tools (e.g., poor interactivity, limited support for branching/stochastic crop growth, and complex
parameter calibration). XPlantGL enables precise simulation of plant architectures and growth dynamics via sink-source relationships, and integrates a generalized least square method
(GLSM) for single-stage or multi-stage model parameter estimation from measured data. The software is validated on over ten crops (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, maize, rice, etc.), covering field
crops, horticultural crops, and herbaceous plants. As a userfriendly FSPM tool, XPlantGL provides a reliable platform for researchers and educators in plant growth modelling, digital phenotyping, and smart agriculture research. Its core innovations
include enhanced interactivity, native support for
stochastic/branching crop growth, and streamlined parameter fitting workflows. Future research will focus on environment factor integration and high-fidelity visualization optimization.
Index Terms: Functional-structural plant model (FSPM), GreenLab, parameter calibration, plant growth simulation, plant development, plant architecture modelling
Published in:The International Journal of Intelligent Control and Systems (Volume: 31, Issue: 1, 2026-03-31)
Page(s):53 - 60