Arachis hypogaea - Peanuts were first cultivated in Paraguay. Although it is referred to as a nut, it is a legume. Until the 1930’s, peanuts were generally grown for use as animal fodder, but now it is cultivated primarily for human consumption in the form of peanut oil, flour, and peanut butter. Peanuts prefer a light sandy soil. The pods ripen between 120 to 150 days. Harvesting too soon will result in unripened pods, harvesting too late will result in the pods breaking off and remaining buried.
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The Gran Chaco is a region in South America covering 647,000 square kilometers, an area distributed over four countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. The name is based on the Quechua term “chaku,” a term translating as “hunting land.” The landscape is flat and features a semi-arid climate. The Gran Chaco region has a sparse population of about 9 million people; Paraguay’s share is about 100,000 inhabitants. Argentina and Bolivia have a province or autonomous region named for the area.
