Table 3.

Comparison of equations used to calculate stalk flexural stiffness, stalk bending strength and bending stress for the traditional method and the new approach derived in this study

	Traditional method	New approach
Stalk flexural stiffness	$\frac{M_{\mathit{ext}}}{\delta }$	$\frac{M_{\mathit{TOTAL}}}{\delta }$
Stalk bending strength	$\text{max}\left(M_{\mathit{ext}}\right)$	$\text{max}\left(M_{\mathit{TOTAL}}\right)$
Bending stress	$\frac{M_{\mathit{ext}}\left(h_p\right)}{S\left(h_p\right)}$	$\frac{M_{\mathit{TOTAL}}\left(h_p\right)}{S\left(h_p\right)}$