Studies on the Groundnut Pod Borers

Arachis hypogaea L. (groundnut or peanut) is mainly used as a dietary supplement in the developed countries either as roasted and salted and eaten as a snack or as milled products. However, groundnuts are an important source of dietary protein and lipid, especially in developing countries. In India, the world's largest producer of groundnut, the oil is of prime importance as a cooking medium (Wightman and Amin, 1988), and in recent years this crop has gained a lot of importance due to shortage of edible oil. In India groundnut is grown in about 8 m ha producing 7.2 million tonnes of pods with an average yield of 900 kg ha'' (FAO, 1990). This reflects 45 per cent of the total oilseeds area contributing 55 per cent of the total oilseeds in the country (NRCG. 1987). Although this crop occupies a unique place in the country's oilseed production the import of edible oil has gone up from time to time to meet the demand