Development of a decision support system for potato crop scheduling in Nilgiri hills of western Ghats

Abstract

A decision support system (DSS) tool has been developed for providing information on the optimum time of planting and the likely consequences of early or late planting of potato in about one hundred and seventy three locations of Nilgiris region of Tamil Nadu state in India for the most popular variety of the region i.e., Kufri Jyoti. The effect of harvest at two different durations i.e., 100 and 120 days after planting is also incorporated in this DSS. The tool consists of a database of simulated yield at 100 and 120 days after planting derived through InfoCrop-potato model. This DSS is developed with the data base generated using the daily weather data developed through weather generators and the potential yields estimated with the help of InfoCrop-Potato model. The methodology of development of the data base and the user interface of the DSS has been discussed in this paper.