Research on maize growth simulation and organ morphology co-modeling driven by multimodal data fusion

Introduction: Addressing the core bottleneck in traditional crop models-the disconnect between morphology and physiological function at the organ scale and their limited dynamic response to environmental changes-this study aimed to construct a multi-source data fusion maize growth model for simultaneous organ-scale simulation. Methods: We developed a closed-loop Environment-Driven-Functional Response-Morphological Feedback (EDFM) architecture. By integrating environmental time-series data, RGB images, and 3D point clouds, we created a multimodal fusion model based on a gated attention network. This approach adaptively weights multi-source features and pioneers a bidirectional morphology-physiology feedback loop based on physiological development time (PDT) and NURBS surfaces. The WOFOST moisture response function was also improved. Results: The model significantly enhanced the simulation accuracy of organ-scale growth, reducing the root mean square error (RMSE) for plant height by 74.6% through a morphology-physiology dynamic weighting mechanism. More fundamentally, it resolved the disconnect between morphological and physiological processes. The improved plant height prediction validates the model's effectiveness at the organ scale. Discussion: The pioneering "physiology-morphology" parallel simulation architecture provides an interpretable theoretical model and robust quantitative tools for designing high-photosynthetic-efficiency plant architecture and enabling precision water-fertilizer management.