The continuing rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is one of the main causes for global warming and a resultant change in the climate. Global average air temperature is expected to be 1.8-4.0 °C above the current level in the 21st century that might impact agriculture dramatically in terms of larger variability in food, feed and fiber production (Aggarwal, 2008). Temperature is the main factor affecting plant growth and development and higher air temperatures above a certain level significantly affect crop productivity (Sacks and Kucharik, 2011). Most of the climate model prediction indicates frequent flood and drought-like situations in the future. High-temperature compounding with the changes in rainfall patterns will adversely affect crop production. It is an important aspect to be understood that the relationship between rainfall and crop productivity as the rainfall directly influencing the growth and productivity of crops. Crops grown under rainfed condition are already findingdifficult to cope with temperature and rainfall changes induced by the climate change. Cotton is an agro-industrial crop grown in developing and developed countries including China, United States, India, Pakistan and Brazil. It contributes more than fifty percent of all fibers used for clothing and household furnishings. Changes in climate is likely to impact cotton growth and productivity due to increasing C02 concentration, temperature and changes in rainfall behaviours(Bange, 2007). Effect of climatechange on productivity of crops has been largly studied by employing crop models coupling with climate change scenarios (Tao et al., 2008). For adapting the crop systems in view of climate change, it is necessary to know the effect of climate change oncrop production. Quantifying the effect of various climatic factors on cotton paves the way for developing suitable adaptation strategies and thereby minimize the deleterious effect of varying climatic factors. The present investigation aimed to assess the response of cotton to the changes in temperature, rainfall and CO_2 concentrations over Tamil Nadu.
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