Farmers had sown groundnut across 4.13 million ha, down 11.6% on year. The fall in area under the oilseed was mainly because of lower acreage in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Poor rainfall in Karnataka during the initial months of the Jun-Sep monsoon season has led to a decline in the area under the crop to 378,000 ha from 522,000 ha sown last year. Acreage in Andhra Pradesh fell over 29% on year to 656,000 ha, as many farmers shifted to other remunerative crops this season. In Gujarat, the largest producing state, groundnut acreage fell marginally to 1.63 million ha from 1.64 million ha last year.