Shankarappa Talawar, Robert E. Rhoades, and
Virginia Nazarea
I. Introduction
The groundnut have been recognized around the world by an assortment
of colorful names. While Americans call it peanut, it is known by several
other names such as African nut, Chinese nut, Manila nut, kipper nut,
hawks nut, jar nut, earth chestnut, monkey nut, goober pea, ground pea,
and ground bean (Johnson,1964). Although peanuts have gained importance
relatively recently, the origin of this crop dates back to 350 BC (Hammons,
1994). With a humble beginning, groundnuts have gained prominence for
their economic importance and nutritional value on a global scale. Groundnuts
have become a substitute for costly nuts such as cashews. Now, they
are widely regarded as poorman's cashews.
Although earliest archeological records reveal that the groundnut plant
originated in Peru, according to Hammons(1994)the first probable domestication
of groundnuts took place in the valleys of the Panana and Paraguay river
systems in the Grain Chaco area of South America. Hammons gives a detailed
account of history of groundnut based on different sources of information
such as archeological remains from prehistoric sites, natural historical
narratives of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, and also the current
debate on the crop's center of origin and geographical dispersion. The
first historian of the New World,Oviedo(1527)described groundnut as
a very abundant, ordinary food crop sown and harvested in the gardens
and fields of the Indians on Hispaniola(now Haiti/Dominican Republic)
and other islands. From the Andes of South America the Portuguese took
groundnuts to Africa and Malabar hills of south India. Groundnuts moved
to North America through slave trade (Hammons, 1994).
Groundnuts are now cultivated throughout the world. Some grow groundnuts
for consuming directly as food or snacks, while in other places they
are important source of vegetable oil. For instance, groundnut production
and use in the United States and India are of great contrast. In India
they are cultivated entirely manually while its production is heavily
mechanized in the United States. Often it is hard to believe that hundreds
of acres of groundnut crop operated by small farm owners in India are
cultivated and harvested without using machines. Also, people in India
like to consume baked and fried peanuts as opposed to the boiled peanuts
preferred by Americans. Obviously, tremendous variation occur in the
way groundnuts are produced and used in different parts of the world.
Although groundnuts are grown around the world, very little readily
available information exists on where they are grown, the kinds of people
or farming systems and agroecological conditions involved in farming
them, and the way they are used. The current project, The World Geography
of Groundnut, aims to answer these questions through a systematic research
and documentation in collaboration with Peanut CRSP (Peanut Collaborative
Research Support Program) of the University of Georgia. Such an effort
involves developing a country by country reference files containing
information on all aspects of the groundnut crop. The areas covered
in developing groundnut information base include history of the crop,
agroecological regions where the crop is grown, climate, cropping seasons,
production practices, varieties, seed sources, pests and diseases, storage,
consumption, trade, and producer characteristics. The information will
be collected from secondary sources, gray literature and through field
studies in different countries. Thus collected information will be further
integrated using GIS and other computer capabilities to produce layers
of information which can be further manipulated in different ways for
use by scientists, policy makers, and private industry.
This document presents a broader picture of groundunt distribution,
production, trade, and use based on the statistical data of Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO). Data were downloaded from the FAO web
site and analyzed using simple techniques such as averages and presented
in the form of charts, graphs and maps. Some of these presentations
give a comparative picture of groundnut performance of different countries
in the last thirty years, while others provide the trends for the last
nine years. Further, discussion is supported by the use of secondary
literature that was compiled as a database for the current project.
II. Global Distribution of Groundnut
Based on the average production of groundnuts in the years 1989-91,
major groundnut growing countries were identified to examine the statistical
data further. Groundnut data of the leading twenty-five countries downloaded
from the FAO web site were used to examine trends in area, production,
and productivity.
Major countries with more than a million hectares under groundnuts
are India, China, and Nigeria. Countries where more than a half a million
hectares of land is used for growing groundnuts are Senegal, Sudan,
Zaire, Indonesia, and USA. While in countries like Myanmar, Chad, Vietnam,
Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Cote Divore,
South Africa, Pakistan, and Thailand groundnuts are grown in an less
than five hundred thousand hectares. India is the world leader in area
under groundnut production. China, the second most important country,
has almost doubled its area under groundnuts steadily in the last three
decades. Nigeria, the third most important groundnut growing country
has regained its edge as an important groundnut growing country after
a decline in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, groundnut area
in Nigeria declined to almost half of the existing levels of 1.7 million
ha (data for 1994-96 average) (Table
1; Fig.1
,2,3,and 4).
Groundnut production areas continued to decline in South America between
1980 and 1990, as also happened between 1970-80. The major cause for
this decline was the decrease in groundnut oil extraction as the industries
shifted to other more profitable oil sources like soybeans. However,
such changes did not lead to a decline in total production since crop
yields(productivity per unit area) increased during the same period.
Average yields in the 1980s were nearly 50% higher than those of the
1970s (Goody and Giandana, 1992). Pompeu (1980) also attributed the
change in government priority and a shifting interest among farmers
toward more profitable crops like soybeans, as primary reasons for the
decline of area under groundnuts in Brazil.
Other major countries such as Senegal, Sudan, USA, Myanmar, Mozambique
etc., have bumpy curves of growth and decline over the years in terms
of area under groundnuts. More is discussed about the trends and causes
of growth and decline of groundnuts in several of the above-mentioned
countries in the following section.
III. Groundnut Production Around the Globe
Although India has largest area under groundnuts, China produces more
than any other country in the world. Leading countries such as China,
India, USA, and Indonesia produce more than a million tons of groundnuts
each annually. Annual production of peanuts in China and India is four
and five times of the US production respectively. Peanut production
in China has undergone eight-fold increase in the last three and half
decades while area under production increased only about two and half
times. At present, the United States produces now more than double of
what was produced in the country in 1961-63. Dramatic increases in the
US groundnut production took place in the 70s with productivity levels
reaching as high as the current levels, about 2.8 tons per hectare.
Indonesia has achieved an impressive amount of increase in the groundnut
production during recent years. By doubling its area under groundnut,
Indonesia has doubled its area under groundnut and thereby increased
the production by more than three and half times in the years between
1961 and 1996 (Table 2; Fig.5 ,6,7, and 8).
From among the rest of the groundnut producing countries, Zaire, Vietnam,
and Cote Divore have produced consistently increasing quantity of groundnuts
in the years between 1961-1996. Other countries such as Myanmar, Argentina,
Chad, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Thailand, and Pakistan have also achieved
appreciable amount of increase in production, although not consistently
over the years. Sudan has made a significant achievement in groundnut
production despite inconsistent performance over the years. On the other
hand, in countries such as Brazil, Gambia, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria the
production of groundnut has declined noticeably. In some other countries,
namely, Senegal, Uganda, South Africa, and Mozambique production performance
has always fluctuated over the years.
By and large, the groundnut production in Africa has suffered from
fluctuations and downward trend. Low yields in the Eastern Africa have
been attributed to the unreliable rains with recurrent droughts, lack
of high-yielding cultivars, pests and diseases, as well as low inputs
used in groundnut cultivation (Mahmoud et.al., 1992). Major factors
attributed to the increase in groundnut production in China include
agricultural reforms started in the late 70s, development of a market
economy, increase of inputs into groundnut production, and application
of improved varieties with improved techniques (Zeyong, 1992).
IV Groundnut Productivity Trends
While the United States doubled its groundnut productivity level between
1961 and 1996, China increased it by more than two and half times. Argentina
followed these two leading countries with impressive groundnut productivity
levels, although it has been inconsistent in the 80s and 90s. In the
United States groundnut productivity increased rapidly until the early
seventies and remained high at about 2.7 tons per hectare. Brazil, Ghana,
Indonesia, and Thailand produce more than one and half tons of groundnuts
per hectare on an average. Among these four countries, Ghana and Indonesia
have achieved a spectacular growth in productivity. Other countries,
namely, Mexico, Vietnam, Pakistan, South Africa, Cote Divore, and Myanmar
produce between 1 and 1.3 tons per hectare (1994-96 average)(Table 3;
Fig.9 ,10,and 11).
Although India is a world leader in groundnut area, its productivity
has remained low at about one ton per hectare. Groundnut productivity
in India has remained low mainly because the crop is traditionally grown
in the dryland belt of India characterized by poor soil fertility, erratic
rainfall and low input levels. In Africa, countries such as Nigeria,
Gambia, Senegal, Sudan and Zimbabwe have suffered from significantly
declining productivity of groundnuts between 1961 and 1996 in general.
In Gambia, productivity declined from 1.1 ton/ha in 1961-63 to 0.91
ton/ha in 1994-96.
Although groundnut production grew by 4% in Asia between 1976 and 1986,
it is believed that there is a scope for increasing the productivity
levels from the existing yield of over one ton per hectare to the potential
of 6-8 tons per hectare that can be achieved on research farms when
yield constraints are removed (McDonald and Nigam, 1989). The low average
yields of groundnut in the South Asia region are known to result from:
raising the crop mostly under rainfed conditions on marginal and submarginal
lands with low levels of inputs, use of varieties with long maturity
periods, susceptibility of the crop to a plethora of insect pests and
diseases, and non-availability of efficient farm machinery and quality
seed (Reddy et al., 1992).
IV. Groundnut Utilization
Almost every part of the groundnut plant is used in some way. While
the kernels are used for human consumption, vines are used as fodder
for cattle in many African and Asian countries. Groundnut roots left
behind in the soil add a valuable nutrition to the soil.
While groundnuts are used primarily for vegetable oil in most of the
world, in the USA they are grown mainly for food including peanut butter,
roasted-in-the-shell, candy, and as shelled whole seeds that are salted
or dry-roasted (Isleib and Wynne, 1992). National Peanut Council data
showed that about 58 per cent of the total groundnut produced in the
United States in the year 1989 was used for food. Of the remaining,
20 percent was exported, 10 percent was crushed for oil, and 10 percent
was wasted (shrinkage and seed loss) (NPC, 1990). Among major peanut
foods in the US, peanut butter constituted a major item (52 per cent)
followed by salted groundnuts (24 per cent), peanut candy (20 per cent),
and crackers/cookies (2 per cent) (NPC, 1990).
In Argentina, about 75 per cent of the crop is crushed or exported
while the other 25 per cent is exported or domestically consumed as
either roasted groundnuts or peanut candy (Chinan et al., 1992). In
Brazil, for example, in the year 1979, 10% of the total production was
retained by growers for new planting, 74% went to industries for oil
extraction, 11% was consumed (roasted, salted, candies), and the remaining
5% was exported with and without shell (Pompeu, 1980). In Vietnam, groundnut
is increasingly grown to break the rice monoculture, improve soil fertility,
and secure additional income through the export of groundnut and its
products (Hong et al., 1994).
V. Groundnut Trade
Data of last nine years, from 1987 to 1995, were analyzed to look
into the trends in groundnut trade around the world. Both quantity of
groundnuts exported and their dollar value were examined. China is the
leading exporter of groundnuts earning currently more than 250 million
dollars annually. In terms of quantity exported, China is followed by
USA, Argentina, Netherlands, Vietnam, and India. The United States is
the second largest exporter of groundnuts earning more than 180 million
dollars annually. United States has maintained its edge in the revenue
earned from groundnut exports in spite of a slight decline in the total
quantity of groundnuts exported. Argentina has almost doubled its profits
from groundnut exports in the last nine years just by increasing the
quantity exported from 109 thousand tons (1987-89 average) to 129 thousand
tons (1993-95 average) (Table4 ; Fig.12 and 13).
Vietnam has doubled its earnings from groundnut exports by doubling
the quantity of groundnuts exported in the last nine years. Between
1987-89 and 1993-95, India increased the export by four times both in
quantity of groundnuts and dollar value earned from exports. Although
India currently produces a large amount of groundnuts (close to 8 million
tons in shell), the export (80 thousand metric tons shelled) is limited
due to local demand for groundnuts for vegetable oil. Other countries
such as South Africa, Singapore, France, Israel, and Hong Kong earn
between 21 and 11 million Dollars from groundnut exports currently.
Unfortunately, many African countries do not figure as leading exporters
in the years between 1987 and 1995.
Groundnut export from African countries in general has declined since
the 1960s. A study showed that the decline of groundnut exports from
African Groundnut Council countries between 1960s and 1980s was about
three times larger than the fall in global groundnut oil exports (Badiane
and Kinteh, 1994). The same study also pointed out that the share of
AGC countries in the world groundnut exports decreased by more than
50 per cent during the period 1961-65 to 1986-88, while exports from
South America and Asia quadrupled. Domestic policies have been largely
blamed for the decline of groundnut exports from AGC countries (Badiane
and Kinteh, 1994).
Netherlands, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom are the major groundnut
importers in the world. Canada, Germany, Singapore, France, and Japan
follow the above mentioned countries as leading importers of groundnuts.
(Table 5 , Fig. 14 and 15).
VI. Conclusions
Groundnut is very important crop around the globe for its nutritional
and trade values. It is also a poorman's crop as it can be grown fairly
well even on marginal soils with less fertility, and low moisture conditions.
Groundnuts can also be grown in large quantity with the use of high
amount of inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, high yielding cultivars,
and irrigation. As a result of varying farming situations, there is
a large variation in the productivity levels of groundnut around the
world. In countries like the United States where the crop is grown on
large farms with assured inputs, productivity levels are very high in
comparison to a country like India where the crop is traditionally grown
by small-holding farmers, on less fertile soil, in rainfed conditions,
with low amount of inputs.
Many Asian and African countries suffer from a typical productivity
problem due to reasons such as moisture stress, poor soil fertility,
pests and diseases, and low input levels. Also, in most of these countries
groundnut is grown on marginal lands. Such a situation demands development
of cultivars that can withstand drought and resist the attack of pests
and diseases. While in Africa, government priorities lead to the decline
of groundnut cultivation, South American groundnut production was hit
by the shift from groundnut to a more competitive oilseed crop soybeans
by the industries. All of these factors point to the fact that it needs
a careful planning and concerted efforts to keep the balance of high
level of production and trade of economically and nutritionally important
crop like groundnut. The groundnut has a tremendous potential to offer
in mitigating the protein malnutrition in poverty ridden countries of
the world.
The current analysis is only a pointer to the facts of global groundnut
situation. The study indicated important facts about the distribution,
production, trade and use of groundnuts. Integration of such information
with the cause-effect relationships of other factors in examining the
global dynamics of groundnut production would go a long way in understanding
groundnut farming. Global statistical information on groundnuts needs
to be examined in the light of background information such as agroecological,
socioeconomic, trade and policies where the crop is grown both at micro
and macro level. Such efforts are being made in the current project,
The World Geography of Groundnut. The proposed country studies are expected
to provide the soft information to support the hard numbers of groundnut
production and trade at regional and national levels.
References
Badiane, O. and Kinteh, S., 1994, Trade Pessimism and Regionalism
in African Countries: The Case of Groundnut Exporters. Washington, D.C.:
International Food Policy Research Institute.
Goody, I.J. and Giandana, E.H., 1992, Groundnut production and research
in South America. In In Nigam, S.N. (Ed.), Groundnut - a global perspective:
proceedings of an international workshop, 25-29 Nov 1991, ICRISAT Center,
India. Patancheru, A.P., India. pp. 77-85.
Hammons, R.O., 1994, The origin and history of the groundnut. In J.
Smartt (Ed), The Groundnut Crop. A Scientific Basis for Improvement.
New York: Chapman and Hall.
Hong, N.X., Mehan, V.K., Ly, N.T. and Vinh, M.T., 1994, Status of groundnut
bacterial wilt research in Vietnam. In Mehan, V.K, and McDonald, D.
(Eds). Groundnut Bacterial Wilt in Asia. Proceedings of the third working
group meeting. 4-5 July 1994, Oil Crops Research Institute, Wuhan, China.
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patacheru,
A.P., India. pp. 135-141.
Isleib, T.G. and Wynne, J.C., 1992, Groundnut production and research
in North America. In Nigam, S.N. (Ed.), Groundnut - a global perspective:
proceedings of an international workshop, 25-29 Nov 1991, ICRISAT Center,
India. Patancheru, A.P., India. pp.
Johnson, F.R., 1964, The Peanut Story. Murfreesboro, N.C.: Johnson
Publishing Co.
Mahmoud, M.A., Osman, A.K., Nalyongo, P.W., Wakjira, A. and David,
C., 1992, Groundnut in eastern Africa, 1981-1990. In Nigam, S.N. (Ed.),
Groundnut - a global perspective: proceedings of an international workshop,
25-29 Nov 1991, ICRISAT Center, India. Patancheru, A.P., India. pp.
89-95.
McDonald, D. and Nigam, S.N., 1989, Research on groundnut by ICRISAT
with special emphasis on problems in Asia. In Linking Grain Legumes
Research in Asia. Summary Proceedings of the Regional Legumes Network
Coordinators' Meeting. 15-17 December 1988, ICRISAT Center, India. ICRISAT:
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patacheru,
A.P., India. pp. 35-39.
NPC (National Peanut Council), 1990, Peanut Industry Guide 1990-91.
The Peanut Farmer 26(8):1-270.
Pompeu, A.S., 1980, Groundnut production, utilization, research problems
and further research needs in Brazil. Proceedings of the International
Workshop on Groundnuts. ICRISAT Center, Patancheru, India, 13-17 October
1980, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics,
ICRISAT, Patancheru, A.P., India. pp. 244-246.
Reddy, P.S., Basu, M.S., Khaleque, M.A., Haque, M.S., Nazar Ali, Malik,
S.N., Than, H., Soe, T., Reghunathan, B., Mishra, B., Murthy, T.G.K.,
Nigam, S.N., 1992, Status of groundnut research and production in South
Asia. In Nigam, S.N. (Ed.), Groundnut - a global perspective: proceedings
of an international workshop, 25-29 Nov 1991, ICRISAT Center, India.
Patancheru, A.P., India. pp. 133-147.
Zeyong, X., 1992, Groundnut production and research in East Asia in
the 1980s. In Nigam, S.N. (Ed.), Groundnut - a global perspective: proceedings
of an international workshop, 25-29 Nov 1991, ICRISAT Center, India.
Patancheru, A.P., India. pp. 157-165.
Home | KnowledgeBase
| Database
| Bibliography
| Resources
| Search
Go to the top
