Assessing in-season trends in potato crop using remote sensing and GIS – A case study for West Bengal

Potato being a commercial semi-perishable vegetable crop, the relative crop performance information early in the season is of prime importance for its management. Satellite remote sensing data with its synoptic, temporal coverage of an area in multi-spectral bands has been used successfully for crop survey. This study addresses the feasibility of assessing the regional potato crop prospects early in the season and detecting the changes in comparison to previous years using temporal IRS WiFS data. The study was carried out for the predominantly potato growing area of West Bengal. Results showed that, though the mapping accuracy of acreage of potato at district level is poor due to the low spatial resolution, it is feasible to assess the trend of major growing areas and detect the pockets where change has occurred with good accuracy.