Climate change has emerged as the most serious environmental challenges. It is necessary to evaluate its impacts on climate-vulnerable development sectors, such as agriculture. Human impacts on environment have resulted in altered environmental conditions that influence changes in abundance and diversity of insect pests. In the present study, an attempt was made to determine the impact of changes in the climatic conditions on grape crop in Tasgaon tehsil. Various weather parameters like rainfall, temperature and relative humidity were analyzed in the region. The results show that the most significant climatic factor influencing the development and yield of grapes is temperature and humidity. Data for the period 2008 to 2017 show an increasing trend in temperatures and change in precipitation in the study area. This affected grape yield due to infestation of diseases and uncertain weather events. These climatic variations are responsible for the increase in fungal infestation of grapes, as well as 40% to 50% loss of yield because of inferior quality of fruit. Several adaptation strategies may be used to offset the negative impacts of climate change on diseases and crop yields. | Impact of changing weather conditions on the disease pattern on grapes in Tasgaon Tehsil in Maharashtra, India
