WOFOST is the acronym for WOrld FOod STudies and its purpose is to serve as a simulation model for cropping systems. The model thus simulates the growth of crops in interaction with their environment including weather, soil and agromanagement. The output of the WOFOST model includes the simulated total crop biomass and crop yield as well as variables like leaf area and crop water use.

WOFOST has been developed by Wageningen University and Research (and its predecessors) already since the 1980s. Currently, the model is maintained and improved by Wageningen University and Research in cooperation with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Several implementations of the model are available which have been developed for both research and operational applications.

The WOFOST system description available from ReadTheDocs provides a detailed mathematical description of the algorithms that are implemented in the model and can be downloaded as a PDF document. Additionally its LaTeX source code can be found on this github repository.

For a more general introduction to the WOFOST model and an overview of the processes included in the model, see:

Wit, Allard de, Hendrik Boogaard, Davide Fumagalli, Sander Janssen, Rob Knapen, Daniel van Kraalingen, Iwan Supit, Raymond van der Wijngaart, and Kees van Diepen. 25 Years of the WOFOST Cropping Systems Model. Agricultural Systems 168 (January 1, 2019): 154–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.06.018