The kernels are consumed either roasted or fried and salted. The oil cake obtained after the extraction of the oil is a valuable organic manure and animal feed. It contains 7-8 per cent nitrogen, 1.5 per cent phosphorus and 1.5 per cent potash. It is a good rotation crop, it builds up the soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen through the root nodules and also an efficient cover crop for lands exposed to soil erosion.

In India the cultivation of Groundnut is mostly confined to the southern Indian states, viz., Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The other important states where it is grown are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Groundnut is essentially a tropical plant. It requires a long and warm growing season. The most favourable climatic conditions for groundnut are a well distributed rainfall of at least 50 centimetre during growing season, abundance of sunshine and relatively warm temperatures. It seems that plant will grow best when the mean temperature is from 21-26.5 Degree Celsius. Lower temperatures are not suitable for its proper development. During ripening period it requires about a month of warm and dry weather. The rainfed crop should be sown with the advent of monsoon in the last week of June or in the first week of July. The sowing should be completed as early as possible as delayed sowing causes progressive reduction in the yield. Where irrigation facilities are available, groundnut should be sown around 20^th June or 10-12 days before the onset of monsoon with a pre-sowing irrigation. This helps in best utilization of monsoon by the crop because all the germination will take place before rains start which ultimately result in a higher yield. It will also help in getting the field vacated in time for the sowing of Rabi crops. In southern part of the country where groundnut is sown in Rabi season also, it should be sown in the month of November and December.

Groundnut thrives best in well-drained sandy and sandy loam soils, as light soil helps in easy penetration of pegs and their development and also harvesting. Clay or heavy soils are not suitable for this crop, as they interfere in penetration of pegs and make harvesting quite difficult. Groundnut gives good yields in the soil with pH between 6.0-6.5.

Groundnut is grown in rotation with wheat, gram, pea, barley, etc. It is grown as a mixed crop with bajra, maize, jowar, castor and cotton. Groundnut can also be followed by safflower where early varieties are grown and moisture remains in the soil at the time of harvest.

Although groundnut is a deep-rooted crop but looking to its under-ground pod forming habit, deep ploughing should be avoided. Because deep ploughing encourages development of pods in deeper layers of soil which makes harvesting difficult. One ploughing with soil turning plough followed by two harrowings would be sufficient to achieve a good surface tilth up to 12-18 centimetre depth. One or two summer cultivations will minimize weeds and insect pests to a great extent in problem areas. Quality of seeds is of utmost importance for establishing the optimum plant stand. Pods for seed purposes should be stored unshelled in a cool, dry and ventilated place. For seed purposes, pods should be shelled by hand one week before sowing. Hand shelling ensures little damage to seeds. Pods shelled long before sowing time are liable to suffer from loss of viability and storage damages. Discard very small, shriveled and diseases kernels. Only bold seeds should be used for sowing. It is advised to treat the selected kernels with 5 g of Thiram or Captan or Ceresan per kg of kernels so as to check various seed and soil borne diseases. Seed should be inoculated with proper strain of Rhizobium culture particularly in those places where groundnut is to be grown for the first time.

In bunch types, the row to row distance is kept 30-40 cm and in spreading types 45-60 centimetre. For this, 80-1000 kg of seeds per hectare would be enough for bunch types and 60-80 kg for spreading types. Plant to plant distance would be 15 and 20 centimetre for bunch and spreading types respectively. Sowing should be done about 5 centimetre deep behind the plough or with the help of dibbler or seed planter. On a large scale, seed planter can be used.

Like the other legumes, groundnut too meets the major part of its nitrogen requirement through nitrogen fixation. However, an application of 20-40 kg nitrogen per hectare as a starter dose should be given to meet the nitrogen requirement of the crop in the initial stage in poor fertility soils. If farm yard manure or compost is available, 10-15 tonnes may be added per hectare about 15-20 days before sowing. If nitrogen is to be applied through fertilisers, prefer ammonium sulphate. It provides sulphur in addition to nitrogen. The soil should be tested for the availability status of phosphorus and potassium and fertilizer recommendations for groundnut be obtained. In the absence of soil test, it would be adivisable to apply about 50-60 kg P₂O₅ and about 30-40 kg K₂O per hectare to meet the requirement of the crop. Phosphorus should be applied preferably through super phosphate. The fertilisers should be placed at the time of sowing about 4-5 centimetre in the side of the seed and 4-5 centimetre below the seed level. Calcium too has pronounced effect on proper development of pods and kernels. Therefore, care should be taken to ensure that soil has sufficient calcium. Besides N, P, K, Ca and S are the major nutrients required by the groundnut crop. Gypsum is the cheapest source of calcium (25%) and sulphur (18.6%). Well powdered gypsum should be applied on the soil surface as close to the base of the plant as possible when it is in the peak flowering stage. Since, there is little residual effect of gypsum, it is necessary to repeat the application every season. In India, application of gypsum is recommended in the sandy-loam soils @ 500 kg/ha in 2 split doses, half at planting and the other half at the peak flowering stage. Micronutrients play an important role in stepping up the productivity of groundnut. The soils in the Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab are deficient in zinc. Application of zinc sulphate to the soil @ 25 kg/ha, once in 3 years has been recommended. When zinc deficiency is noticed in the standing crop, as characterized by yellowing from mid-ribs of young leaves and red spots in the old leaves, foliar application of 0.2% zinc sulphate is recommended. Soils in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are deficient in boron. For correcting the deficiency, either soil application of borax @ 5-10 kg/ha along with N and P fertilizers or foliar spray of 0.1% borax, depending upon the severity of the disease, was recommended. In Maharashtra, spraying of 0.1 ppm boric acid (300 mg boric acid in 500 litres water) at 30 and 50 days after sowing resulted in 10 and 15% increased yield respectively. Iron chlorosis in groundnut, prevalent in the calcareous black soils of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra can be corrected by spraying 1% ferrous sulphate plus 0.1% ammonium citrate. The Spanish bunch varieties, JL 24 and GG 2, were found to be tolerant to iron chlorosis.

Being a rainy season crop, groundnut does not require irrigation. However, if dry spell occurs, irrigation may become necessary. One irrigation should be given at pod development stage. The field should be well drained. In the southern part of the country where groundnut is grown in Rabi season too, three to four irrigation are necessary. It is advised to give the first irrigation at the start of flowering and the subsequent irrigation whenever required during the fruiting period to encourage peg penetration and pod development. The last irrigation before harvesting will facilitate the full recovery of pods from the soil.

It is necessary to dig the pods at the right time for obtaining higher yields of pods and oil. Nut takes two months to attain full development. A fully mature pod will be difficult to split easily with finger pressure. This stage is achieved when vine begins to turn yellow and leaves start shedding. Harvesting should be done when good percentage of nuts are fully developed and fairly intact. In case of bunch type of groundnut, the plants are harvested by pulling. Harvesting of spreading type of groundnut is done by spade, local plough or with the help of blade harrow or groundnut digger. Leave the harvested crop in small heaps for two three days for curing. After curing, collect the crop at one place and detach the pods either by hand or using groundnut pluckier for separating the pods.