Guar, also known as cluster bean, is an annual legume crop that provides with a natural source of hydrocolloid (substance that forms thick solutions at low concentrations with water). Guar plant is a rough to touch, bushy plant that has the ability to dwell even in the drought like conditions.

Being a crop of the arid regions, the origination of guar is controversial as different people have different opinions about it. The actual place of origin is not known but it is believed that it grew wildly in the hot and arid areas of Africa or the deserts of Middle East. The Arab people first domesticated guar to feed their horses with it. When the trade started flourishing in the Middle East during the silk route trading days, the traders brought with them the pods of guar wherever they went and as a result the seeds of this crop got scattered in those countries. This is how guar was introduced into India.

India also being a hot weathered country suited well for the crop to dwell properly. The regions in the country possessing desert lands like Gujarat and Rajasthan helped guar to flourish and gain importance as there is a small number of vegetables that can be grown in such areas. This helped the crop to diversify its uses from animal feed to human consumption as well. Guar was introduced into the United States in 1903 by India.

Guar was not known for its industrial application till in the times of World War II, when there was shortage of locust bean crop and the paper and textile industry of the world was searching for a substitute. They found as efficient alternative in the form of guar gum and since then, this derivative of guar ruled out locust bean from this scenario and it was readily accepted for application in many other industries.

The guar seed consists of three parts: the germ, the endosperm, and the husk. It is from the endosperm that guar gum is derived. 100 Kilos of beans, minus their bean pods yields roughly 29 kilos of endosperm; 29 kilos of Guar powder.

Industrially it is used in mining, petroleum drilling and textile manufacturing.

In food it is used as a thickener and as a mean of preventing ice crystal formation in frozen desserts.

India is the major producer of Guar Seed followed by Pakistan and US. India's guarseed production fluctuates between years and has been around 2-6 lakh tons in the recent years. India's guar production in 2003, is estimated at around 6 lakh tons.

India accounts for 80% of the total guar produced in the world. 70% of India's production comes from Rajasthan. The other producers are Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Taking the US, Australian, African crop the total world supply of Guar Split is around 4-5 lakh tons in a normal year. It may even increase to 8 lakh tons as has been visible in 2003-04.

Guar is a crop of semi arid - sub tropical areas spread over the north and north west of India and east and south east of Pakistan. It is grown in arid zones of Rajasthan, some parts of Gujarat, Harayana, Madhya Pradesh. The main guar-growing region in India is Rajasthan.

Guar is a rain fed monsoon crop, which requires 8-15 inch of rain in 3-4 spells and is harvested in October - November. It is sown immediately after first showers say in July and harvested around November each year. The crop yield is directly related to the monsoon. It requires a relative long growing season of 20-25 weeks.

World market for guar gum is estimated to be around 150,000 tons/year, 70% of which is produced by India and Pakistan.

The export from India is around 115,000 tons and the domestic market is of around 25,000 tons.