More recently it has been cultivated in other parts of the world and is an important subsistence crop in Sub-Saharan Africa.

[1] Research has shown that plants infected by groundnut rosette virus alone show little or no effect, but that the symptoms of the disease are caused by a satellite RNA co-infection, a subviral agent.

Groundnut plants affected take on a bushy appearance due to stunting and distortion of the growing shoots.

The disease is epidemic in nature and there is a seasonal cycle of infection, but the origins of this virus are unknown.

A breeding programme has been established in Malawi focussing on disease resistance, early maturity and high yield.