Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
come regular feature in Vidarbha region and causing 50% or even total
loss of 'Nagpur' mandarin crop in some parts.
The sour rot pathogen,
Geotrichum candidum
(now
Galactomyces
citri-aurantii
), which grows at higher temperatures of 30-32 °C has been
found to dominate the spoilage and consequently lead to heavy posthar-
vest losses in 'Nagpur' mandarin during February-March as compared to
October-November when temperatures are 20-25 °C. With rising temper-
ature due to climate change this fungus may also affect fruit in October-
November when spring blossom crop is harvested. Rains have increased
the losses in acid lime during May-June due to rotting and splitting. Un-
seasonal rains during mandarin harvesting season increased decay losses
(Ladaniya and Wanjari, 2003).
15.5.8 GRAPES
In grapes poor color development may occur if temperatures are high dur-
ing fruit maturity. Increased maximum and minimum temperature lead to
reduction in anthocyanin content. Increase in night temperature (minimum
temperature) will severely affect pigment synthesis. Total flavonoid con-
tent was also adversely affected due to rise in temperature in cv. Cabernet
Sauvignon. High temperatures caused reduction in titratable acidity and
increase in pH (Anonymous, 2008).
Ashenfelter and Storchmann (2010) measured the effect of year-to-year
changes in the weather on grape wine prices in the Mosel Valley of Ger-
many in order to determine the effect that climate change is likely to have
on the income of wine growers. The retail price for 1994-2008, wholesale
price for 1993-2001 and auction prices for 1981-2008 were taken in to
consideration. The empirical results of their study models indicated that
the vineyards of the Mosel Valley will increase in value under a scenario
of global warming, and perhaps by a considerable amount. Vineyard and
grape prices increased more than proportionally with greater ripeness, and
it is estimated that 3 °C increase in temperature would double the value
of vineyards while1 °C increase would increase prices by more than 25%.
This may be because German wines are classified and labeled according to
the natural sugar content of the unfermented grape must (freshly pressed
grape juice). In general, sweeter unfermented musts lead to higher alcohol
