ABSTRACT
Peanut belongs to the family Fabaceae and the genus Arachis, derived from the Greek a-rachis, meaning without spine, and refers to the absence of erect branches. The species name hypogaea is derived from hupo-ge, which in Greek means below the earth. In April 2014, peanut genome has been successfully sequenced as a result of the collaborative research done by the International Peanut Genome Initiative—a group of multinational crop geneticists from the United States, China, Brazil, India, and Israel. Peanut is widely distributed and is cultivated in more than 80 countries in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Peanut requires warm, sunny climate with a well-distributed rainfall of at least 500 mm and temperatures ranging from 25°C to 30°C. The most favorable conditions for peanuts are moderate rainfall during the growing season, an abundance of sunshine, and relatively high temperature. The plants need ample soil moisture from the beginning of blooming up to 2 weeks before harvest.
