Decision Support Model for Prioritization of Cotton Plant Diseases using Integrated FAHP-TOPSIS approach

Abstract

Cotton, the essential cash crop of India plays a predominant part in the agricultural and industrial enlargement of the world. The evolution of cotton plant begins with the germination of seed and its growth depends on the accessibility of temperature, soil moisture and oxygen. The desirable characteristics combined in cotton make no other fiber to duplicates its value. There are beyond 75 critical diseases leads to the substantial destruction and economic losses in cotton crop. Premature analysis of the cotton plant diminishes the disease, results in the significant enhancement in the superiority of the product. Massive yield of cotton crop is vanished each year due to fast incursion by insects and pests. Verticilium wilt, grey mildew, leaf spot and leaf blight are some of major cotton disease in cotton plant which extremely affects the productivity. This research discusses the multi criteria decision making evaluation tool to identify the major disease causing factors of cotton crop. Fuzzy AHP, a Multi Criteria Decision making method (MCDM) is applied to impact the disease causing risk factors by determining the weights of the criteria. Moreover, a Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), a ranking MCDM methodology has been applied to rank the alternatives. The outcomes and methods described in this research based on the derived criteria and sub criteria of risk factors will be a noble orientation in producing more perfect, active and efficient decision support tool for the farmers to identify and diagnose the risk factors during the cultivation of the cotton crop