Carbon acquisition at the crop level in pea

Numerous studies since the 1960s have shown a quantitative relationship between intercepted radiation and growth (see review by Sinclair and Muchow, 1999). Monteith (1972, 1977) first made the distinction between the crop function in intercepting solar energy and its function in transforming intercepted energy into biomass. He proposed a theoretical approach linking biomass production to incoming radiation through biophysical conversion factors (Eq.1).