Groundnut can be cultivated as a floor crop in coconut gardens, intercrop with tapioca and as a catch crop after second crop paddy with irrigation. The crop is grown best in sandy loam and loam soils. Arachis hypogea L. is derived from two Greek words "Arachis" meaning to legume and "hypogea" meaning below ground, referring to the formation of pods in the soil. Recent botanical survey has indicated that Brazil in South America is the most likely centre of origin of this plant. In India, Jesuit Father (Missionaries) introduced it in first half of the 16th century. It was introduced in Gujarat by Shri Padmabhai Patel of Pipaliya village, taluka dhoraji (Rajkot) in 1910 from Tamil Nadu. It is also known as peanut, earthnut, monkey nut, manilla nut, pinda, goober and kingpin of oilseeds, unpredictable legume and energy capsule. Groundnut is a herbaceous annual having a more or less upright central stem with numerous branches that vary from prostrate to almost erect depending upon the variety.