Site suitability of emerging maize cultivation in a changing agroclimatic setting of eastern India: a fuzzy-MCE integrated analysis.

In the recent era of globalization and climatic uncertainties, farmers are continuously adopting new strategies and crops to ensure substantial production and income. However, these adaptations always need to be based on systematic decisions; otherwise, the entire environment may degrade. The present study is one of such attempts to understand where to adopt an emerging crop (Maize) in lower Gangetic West Bengal. The decision on suitable sites was taken based on the analysis of fourteen important indicators in a GIS integrated fuzzy-MCE environment aided with different geostatistical interpolation models. The output shows that 18 and 30% of the total agricultural area of the study region is highly suitable and suitable for Maize cultivation following the FAO-based suitability classification arena. Spatially, it can be said that the farmers from a few blocks of the study area, namely Chanchal-I, II, Harishchandrapur I, II, Lalgola, Bamangola, Ratua-I, II, Suti, Burwan, etc., can ensure a sustainable profit by adopting Maize cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]