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The international and domestic situation of peanut production, challenges and opportunities in Hungarian agriculture
Published:
2025-03-31
https://doi.org/10.12666/eb7fb950
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Copyright (c) 2025 Balázs Csizi, Adrienn Széles, János Nagy, Zoltán Balla
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Csizi, B., Széles, A., Nagy, J., & Balla, Z. (2025). The international and domestic situation of peanut production, challenges and opportunities in
Hungarian agriculture. Növénytermelés, 74(1), 105-120. https://doi.org/10.12666/eb7fb950
Abstract
Peanuts are one of the most widely consumed oilseeds in the world, with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reporting that 50.48 million tonnes of peanuts were produced worldwide in 2024 (Agrocrops 2024, USDA 2025)
Peanuts are used in a variety of ways – as a key ingredient in many snacks, confectionery and peanut butter, and as a protein-rich feed for livestock. Similarly, peanut oil is used for frying, peanut flour for cooking and peanut shells for heating.
Peanut cultivation could open a new era in domestic agriculture. As is well known, the cultivation of peanuts is becoming increasingly important in world agriculture, as they are a popular crop worldwide for their nutritional value and versatility. Demand for peanuts on the international market continues to grow, especially among health-conscious consumers.
China produces the highest annual volume of peanuts. According to market statistics, the best quality crops come from farms in Argentina and the USA, and large quantities are grown in Asia (Agrocrops 2024).
Peanuts were first introduced to Europe in 1840 by Jaubert, from the Cap Verde Islands to Marseilles. It was also used at one time to make coffee grounds In 1925, the seed, separated into two leaves and roasted, was marketed in the German Reich and Switzerland under the name of African walnut coffee (Agrártudományi Közlemények 09/1957). According to König, however, the peeled, defatted and roasted groundnut was marketed as Austria coffee (MTA Urania 1923, Ortutay 1977).
In Hungary, in the 1930s, the Agricultural Experimental Institute of the Hungarian Great Plain was involved in experiments on peanut cultivation In the 1950s, under the direction of János Bruder, 300 hectares of peanuts were cultivated in the vicinity of Mezőhegyes and Medgyesegyháza (MTA Urania 1923, Tétényi 1951, Karakasevich 1957). Although peanuts, which occupy a prominent place in world agriculture, entered the domestic cultivation sector at the beginning of the last century, they did not become a significant crop in Hungary despite their initial success. Today, Hungarian peanuts are the winner of climate change, based on the experience of recent years (Balla 2021).
Peanuts are used in a variety of ways – as a key ingredient in many snacks, confectionery and peanut butter, and as a protein-rich feed for livestock. Similarly, peanut oil is used for frying, peanut flour for cooking and peanut shells for heating.
Peanut cultivation could open a new era in domestic agriculture. As is well known, the cultivation of peanuts is becoming increasingly important in world agriculture, as they are a popular crop worldwide for their nutritional value and versatility. Demand for peanuts on the international market continues to grow, especially among health-conscious consumers.
China produces the highest annual volume of peanuts. According to market statistics, the best quality crops come from farms in Argentina and the USA, and large quantities are grown in Asia (Agrocrops 2024).
Peanuts were first introduced to Europe in 1840 by Jaubert, from the Cap Verde Islands to Marseilles. It was also used at one time to make coffee grounds In 1925, the seed, separated into two leaves and roasted, was marketed in the German Reich and Switzerland under the name of African walnut coffee (Agrártudományi Közlemények 09/1957). According to König, however, the peeled, defatted and roasted groundnut was marketed as Austria coffee (MTA Urania 1923, Ortutay 1977).
In Hungary, in the 1930s, the Agricultural Experimental Institute of the Hungarian Great Plain was involved in experiments on peanut cultivation In the 1950s, under the direction of János Bruder, 300 hectares of peanuts were cultivated in the vicinity of Mezőhegyes and Medgyesegyháza (MTA Urania 1923, Tétényi 1951, Karakasevich 1957). Although peanuts, which occupy a prominent place in world agriculture, entered the domestic cultivation sector at the beginning of the last century, they did not become a significant crop in Hungary despite their initial success. Today, Hungarian peanuts are the winner of climate change, based on the experience of recent years (Balla 2021).
