Groundnut was originated from the area in southern Bolivia to northwestern Argentina in South America (fig.).

The Portuguese introduced this crop into India in the 16th century. Groundnut is cultivated on about 26.5 million ha in the world, with an average annual production of 35.7 million Mt in the Year 2003 (FAO, 2003).         The average yield world over is 1348 kg/ha. Groundnut center of origin (solid line), area of intensive cultivation (dotted line) and areas of maximum Cultivation (colored).

  Source: Weiss 2000

         Asia and Africa accounts for 97% of the groundnut area. Groundnut is also cultivated to some extent in North and South America, Europe and Oceania.   As in the case of area, Asia and Africa accounts for 92% of groundnut production.  But, the average yield in Asia (1600 kg ha-1) and Africa (856 kg ha-1) are low as the crop is mostly cultivated as rain fed crop.