Janila Pasupuleti

1 Introduction Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an industrial oilseed crop belonging to the Fabaceae family. The centre of origin and genetic diversity of groundnuts is South America, particularly in Southern Bolivia and Northern Argentina (Gregory et al. 1980). The genus contains 83 species, most of which are diploid (2n = 2 × = 18 and 2n = 2 × = 20), with a few tetraploids (e.g., A. hypogaea, A. monticola, A. nitida, A. pseudovillosa and A. glabrata) (Singh and Simpson 1994; Seijo et al.

Grain legume seed systems in less-developed countries Grain legumes are nutritionally important components of smallholder farming systems in much of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Their higher protein and micro-nutrient contents enhance diets and their ability to fix nitrogen improves soil health (Ojiewo et al., 2018). Good quality seeds are essential for productive legume crops.