Breeding for Resistance to aflatoxin Contamination in GroundnutH DUpadhyayaauthorFWaliyarauthorS NNigamauthorGroundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an annual legume grown primarily for high quality edible oil (36 to 54 % on dry matter basis) and easily digestible protein (12 to 36 %) in its seeds. It is cultivated in 107 countries in tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The crop is grown on about 25.54 million ha world wide with an estimated total production of 35.09 million t in shell and an average productivity of 1.37 t ha-1 (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2001). In several countries of Asia, which accounts for 57.44% of world area and 66.69% of production and Africa, which accounts for 37.86% area and 24.54% of production, groundnut is an important cash crop. Over two-thirds of the global groundnut production occurs in seasonally rainfed regions where drought is a potential constraints for crop production. Beside low productivity which ranges from 0.7 to 0.8 t ha-1 in these regions, drought particularly the one which occurs at the end of season, predisposes crop with invasion by the aflatoxin-producing fungus Aspergillus flavus. Groundnut2002International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid TropicsArticle