111 Introduction Climate change variables including precipitation (amount and distribution), temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentrations are expected to alter agricultural productivity patterns worldwide. Carbon dioxide is a plant nutrient, and atmospheric enrichment has the potential to enhance plant productivity. Schimel (2006) observed that, at least in some regions, agriculture may be one of the bright spots, ಫthe silver lining in the climate change cloudಬ. But higher global temperatures and altered precipitation patterns are expected to accompany the higher CO2 levels, and these factors may lessen or negate any production increases or even depress production below current levels. Themyriad of modeling studies attempting to project the short- and long-term impacts of climate change on agriculture are consistent only in highlighting that the nature of the productivity change itself will vary. Realized yield changes will reflect differences in local environments as well as differences in access to seed and management technologies that may offset negative climate change impacts. Regardless, with any potential changes in agricultural productivity comes a potential for associated changes in crop nutrient use. Local potential yield levels are determined by prevailing climate, ambient CO2 and crop characteristics, but these yields are almost always limited by root zone resources such as nutrients and water and further reduced by pests and diseases (Goudriaan and Zadoks 1995). The interactive effects of soil moisture and nutrient availability are two key edaphic factors that determine crop yield (Ziska and Bunce 2007). The question we address here iswhether such changes will be ones we cannot anticipate based on our existing knowledge of plant mineral nutrition and soil fertility management. In other words, current nutrient management recommendations are based on an understanding of crop-specific P. Parthiban 1 *, K. Balakrishnan 2 , C. Chinniah 1 , G. Srinivasan 1 and A. Ravikumar 1 1 Department of Agricultural Entomology, 2 Department of Crop Physiology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai - 625 104, Tamil Nadu, India. (*Corresponding author e-mail: parthitnau@gmail.com) DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON YIELD e Journal of Agriculture Science Volume 2, Issue 2, November 2016, Pages 111-119 Received: 20.10.2016; Accepted: 10.11.2016; Online: 26.11.2016