ABSTRACT
VedprakashK.Patil,V.R.Chakrawar,P.R.Narwadkar,andG.S.Shinde MarathwadaAgriculturalUniversity,Parbhani,Maharashtra,India
I.INTRODUCTION Grapeswereoneoftheearliestfruitsgrownbyman.Itisthemostwidelycultivatedfruitcrop intheworld.TheOldWorldspeciesVitisviniferaisthegrapeofantiquity,oftenmentionedinthe Bible.Mosttablewinesandraisingrapesareproducedfromthisvariety(2).Grapeculturebegan inAsiaMinorintheregionbetweenandtothesouthoftheBlackandCaspianseas.Most botanistsagreethatthisregion,whichnowistheArmeniadistrict,isthehomeofVitisvinifera (2).Fromthere,cultureofgrapespreadbothwestandeast.Thegrapewascarriedfromregionto regionbycivilizedmaninallthetemperateclimatesandhasbeengrownmorerecentlyin subtropicalandtropicalclimates.Before600Be,thePhoenicianscarriedwinevarietiesto Greece,Italy,andFrance.Inthesecondcentury,theRomanstookthevinetoGermany.Theraisin andtablegrapesmovedaroundtheeasternendoftheMediterraneanseatothecountriesofNorth Africa,Persia,andIndia.WhenEuropeanscolonizednewlands,thegrapewasalwaysamongthe plantstakenalong.VitisviniferawasbroughtbySpaniardstoMexico.Englishsettlersbrought thegrapewiththemtothecoloniesofNewYork,Pennsylvania,Virginia,Carolina,andGeorgia. Likewise,grapeswerebroughttoLatinAmericabyEuropeansettlers(3).Amongthecontinents, Europeisthelargestproducerofgrapes(Table1).Grapesaregrownmostlyforwinemakingin Italy,France,Spain,theUnitedStates,Turkey,Argentina,andSouthAfrica(Table2).Thetotal areaundergrapeintheworldisestimatedtobeabout8.2millionhectares(4).
