Purpose - The aim of this study is to explore the literature pertaining to grape cultivation, export performance, infrastructure, standardisation, farmer group, market access, competitiveness, sustainable development and integrate all these into an overall conceptual framework for promoting sustainable development of the grape export in Karnataka. The study takes into account the incoherence of the literature available and explores the interactions between production, institutional, organisation and market factors and their effect on the export readiness and performance.

Methods - The 38 studies published from 2005-2026 were the subject of a systematic literature review. The literature chosen included peer reviewed journal articles, books, theses, working papers and empirical studies on value-chain development, Good Agricultural Practices, cooperatives, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and agricultural trade in general and in particular on grape exports. Research were organized in groups according to the year of study and region, methodological approach and thematic area. The convergent findings were identified using the method of thematic synthesis, which was used to identify conceptual relationships and gaps in research. Eight themes were detected that were included in a conceptual framework that was based on the literature.

Results - The review shows that export performance of the grape crop is influenced by various factors such as export agriculture practices, infrastructure, awareness of the growers, standards implementation, MSME–cooperative viability and collective export capacity and market access. The amount of literature available is skewed towards the performance of Maharashtra and the national level, and specific and focused in terms of the performance of Karnataka is limited. The farm's readiness to export was identified as the key link between farm level capabilities, infrastructural capabilities, and organisational capabilities and sustainable export performance. There is a positive relationship between institutional support, value chain upgrading and public–private collaboration, and causes a negative impact on export capability.

Implications- The study highlights the need for coordinated investments, in packhouses/cold chains, testing facilities, farmer training, forming farmer groups, providing certification, and in international market linkage. It also sets a guideline to conduct more empirical testing with the grape growers, FPOs, MSMEs and exporters of Karnataka in the future.

Novelty- The study brings together previously disjointed literature into a holistic framework of sustainability and separates awareness of sustainability from the organization and collective export potential from export readiness. The study brings together the scattered literature to present a comprehensive perspective on sustainability and separates the awareness of sustainability from the awareness of the collective export potential from the export readiness, thus establishing a link between these two.