COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF POTATO CULTIVATION AND STORAGE CONSTRAINTS FORPOTATO PRODUCTION IN WEST BENGAL
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Authors
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Jamuna Prasad Kundu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mallabhum Institute of Technology, Bishnupur, Bankura, West Bengal, India.
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Manik Chandra Das
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal
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Bivash Mallick
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal, India
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Bijan Sarkar
Department of Production Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Keywords:
Potato, Constraints, Fuzzy-AHP, TOPSISAbstract
Potato is the second most important and widely cultivated crop after cereals in West
Bengal. The state’s high potato production is primarily attributed to the favourable climatic conditions
in the districts of Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Bardhaman, and Bankura. However, farmers
in these four districts face numerous challenges related to potato cultivation and storage, which
adversely affect both yield and the edible quality of potatoes. Through focus group discussions
and interviews with key stakeholders, fifteen major constraints in potato cultivation and storage
were identified. Data on these fifteen constraints were collected based on four response variables
severity, occurrence, detection, and environmental impact via a survey conducted in sixteen major
potato-growing blocks across these four districts during the year 2025. The relative weights of the
four response variables were determined using the Fuzzy-AHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process)
method, and the fifteen constraints were ranked using the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference
by Similarity to Ideal Solution) approach with statistical analysis of the survey data. The TOPSIS
analysis revealed considerable variation in the relative criticality of the identified constraints affecting
potato cultivation and storage. Among the 15 constraints evaluated, Constraint 1: “access to quality
seeds at an affordable price,” obtained the lowest TOPSIS score of 0.3320, indicating that it was the
most critical constraint in the study area. In contrast, Constraint 14: “pest attack during storage,”
recorded the highest TOPSIS score of 0.8214, and was consequently ranked as the least critical or
most favourable constraint among the 15 constraints. Thus, the findings can assist policymakers,
agricultural extension agencies, seed suppliers, cold-storage operators, and other stakeholders in
developing targeted and priority-based interventions rather than adopting a uniform approach to
all identified constraints.
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