Varietal suitability of grapes in different agro-climatic regions of India

Grape cultivation, in India, is dependent on a narrow range of table grape varieties, with more than 70 per cent cultivated area in Maharashtra alone, followed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Therefore, to increase the scope of area extension under grape cultivation, the suitability of six coloured grape varieties was assessed for yield, quality and phenological parameters at four locations, i.e., Pune (Maharashtra), Arabhavi (Karnataka), Rajendranagar (Telangana) and Theni (Tamil Nadu) during 2019-2022. From the study, it was revealed that the ‘Manjari Shyama’ and ‘Red Globe’ yielded the maximum (13.7 kg/vine) as compared to the rest of the varieties. Variety ‘Manjari Shyama’ was found stable at all four locations for yield, bunch weight, 100-berry weight, berry diameter, TSS, acidity, sugar: acid ratio and days to veraison with the regression coefficient 1.22, 1.11, 1.01, 1.13, 1.35, 1.44, 0.88 and 0.79, respectively. The yield and bunch weight in ‘Red Globe’ was found to be more expressive under the favourable environment as compared to ‘Fantasy Seedless’ (5.59 kg/vine), ‘Nanasaheb Purple Seedless’ (6.13 kg/vine) and ‘Crimson Seedless’ (7.63 kg/vine), which were found lower.