Climate Change and Land Suitability for Potato Cultivation in India
Potato is one of the most important vegetable crops in India accounting for 20-25% of area under cultivation of vegetables and grown in a wide range of climatic conditions. It is grown in almost all states under diversified agro-climatic conditions. Nearly 80% of the crop is grown in Indo- Gangetic plains comprising Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and other parts of India like Gujarat and Karnataka. Moreover, within the country, there is a lot of heterogeneity in potato productivity depending upon mostly on management and climatic conditions. The viability of commercial potato production is influenced by spatial and temporal variability in soils, agro climate, and the availability of water resources. The inter and intra-regional variations in productivity within the country are attributed to the variations in bio-physical factors vis-a-vis specific soil-climatic requirements of the crop. The present chapter discusses the impact of climate change on the land resources requirement for potato crop with reference to Indian context.