Introduction

Abstract

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.), the most important commercial fruit crops of temperate zone, has been acclimatised to subtropical and tropical agro-climatic conditions prevailing in the Indian subcontinent. It is widely grown in France, Italy, America, Africa, Australia, Chile, Algeria, India, etc. The major grape-growing states in India are Maharashtra (48 %), Karnataka (18 %), Andhra Pradesh (14 %), Punjab (6 %) and Tamil Nadu (4 %) accounting to nearly 90 % of the total production besides Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. In recent years, considerable interest has been aroused about its cultivation in India due to prolific yield, export potential and good monetary returns. Due to urbanisation the area under the grape cultivation in Andhra Pradesh specifically around Hyderabad has become negligible in recent years. However, in other grape-growing states, the area under grape is constantly increasing. At present, grapes in India are cultivated on an estimated area of 45,200 ha with annual production of 10.57 lakh tonnes. Maharashtra stands first with 29,800 ha followed by Karnataka having 8,200 ha with an annual production of 7.79 and 2.28 lakh tonnes, respectively. Fruits are used for table purpose, wine, juice, raisins and canning in India. It is an important fruit crop, from the export point of view which is earning maximum foreign exchange. Grapes have a great demand in the foreign market especially in the countries like the UK, Saudi Arabia and UAE fetching valuable foreign exchange for the country. For achieving the international qualitative and quantitative standards, the fruit production from the grape orchards should be free from pests and pesticide residues.