Peanuts

Introduction

India along with china accounts for half of the world's peanut production. Peanut is used as food- stuff (cooking oil, raw seeds, roasted, boiled) Animal feed (pressings, seeds, green material, straw) Industrial raw material (soap, detergent, cosmetics). The peanut seed contains 40-50% fat, 20-50% protein, 10-20% carbohydrate and all these utilities and characteristics add to the demand of peanut in the world market.

Production area

Grown in tropical and subtropical areas, peanut thrives between 25-28oC and ca. 500-mm rainfall in open soil. Following are the Indian regions with plenty of peanut production: Eastern Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Saurashtra region in Gujarat, West Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Growth promotional activities

Involvement of private sector organizations, exemption from few duties and the planning of certain programs for export enhancement are the measures to increase the production of peanut that at present counts for 7.5 millions metric tons annually.