The Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) has joined hand with Argentina Peanuts Chamber (APC) to develop groundnut farming, trade and related aspects. Both the trade bodies had signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week.
According to IOPEPC, Argentina is one of the leading groundnut producing country, which exports almost 50 per cent of its total groundnut production. On the other hand India’s groundnut production is declining for the past couple of years.
Rajesh Bheda, chairman of IOPEPC said, "We have signed a MoU with APC to get knowledge about how to improve groundnut production in India. We will also share information from the topics ranging from farming to export."
A delegation of APC visited Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) at Gondal near Rajkot and studied the auction process of groundnut. The delegation also visited groundnut research centre of Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU) at Junagadh.
"Our delegation will also visit Argentina in coming days to study groundnut farming being taken there," said Bheda.
Argentina produces about 1 million tonnes of groundnut every year.
As domestic use of peanut is low, the country exports around 500,000 tonnes of groundnut annually. The export of peanut butter, peanut pest and oil is about 75,000 tonnes from Argentina. As against India’s average yield of 1,000 kg per hectare, Argentina's average groundnut yield is approximately 3,000 kg per hectare.
Last month, IOPEPC undertook a survey on kharif groundnut production in the five groundnut producing states including Gujarat.
According to IOPEPC survey, India's kharif groundnut production is likely to be around 3.13 million tonnes this year as against 3.96 million tonnes.
As per the survey, groundnut production in Gujarat is likely to be around 1.2 million tonnes as against 2 million tonnes this year.
The estimates are the outcome of a survey conducted by the council in the major groundnut growing states including Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamilnadu.
