Groundnut is the major oilseed crop in India grown in an area of 4.93 m ha during 2010
(FAOSTAT, 2012). It contributes about 30% to the edible oil basket of the country. The South Asia
has more than 7 million ha (31% of world total) under groundnut, roughly 83% of this is in India.
The country has lost 4.62 m ha of groundnut area to other competing crops like soybean, maize and
Bt. cotton during the last decade at an annual rate of 3.48% mainly because of cheaper imports of
other edible oils, which depressed groundnut prices. Though productivity of groundnut was
increased by 2.14% during the period, production declined at the rate of 1.14% annually.About 85%
of the total groundnut area in the country is sown in the rainy season. Being a rainfed crop, the yield
variability across both, growing regions and years is high. The instability measure (CV) was higher
in the case of productivity than in the case of area in all the sub-periods (Table-1.1)..