Groundnut Production

Compiled by Mr. N.Bbebe

 Origin and Botanical Classification
• Native in Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Ghana
• Introduced by Portuguese into Africa
• Member of the plant family leguminosae
• Cultivated groundnuts is classified into two
subspecies based on branching pattern
• Hypogea- Alternating branching pattern
• Fastigiata-Sequestial branching pattern
Groundnut Plant
 Importance and utilization
• Among the top 15 important crops globally
• Less demanding in terms of inputs
• Helps maintain soil fertility through N-fixation
• Seeds are rich sources of protein and edible oils
• Shells,haums and straw are good for animal
fodder.
• G/nut cake is good for livestock feed
• Good source of CA,P,Fe,Zn,Bo,Vit E and B
•
G/nut Production Statistics for Zambia
• Approximately 570,000 small and medium scale
farmers grow groundnuts per season in Zambia
• Average hectares over the last 10 years is 210,000ha
• Average annual production in Zambia is 116,000mt
• Average national yields for g/nuts in Zambia is
553Kg/ha
• Eastern province has the highest number of small and
medium scale farmers growing groundnuts 158,000
farmers.
• Northern province has the second highest number,
140,000 farmers
 Climatic Requirements
• Rainfall
• Adequate and well distributed rainfall during
the growing season
• Critical periods for moisture;flowering,pegging
and pod formation
• Rainfall of 600mm to 1500mm considered
adequate
 Temperature
• Groundnuts are tropical in origin
• Require 160 frost free days
• 18°C is the lower limit for proper
growth/develop
• Temperature between 20-30°C give good
germination
• Soil temperature is an important factor in
germination
• Temperature > 35°C inhibit growth
• Growth ceases at 15°C
 Soil Requirements
• Deep, well drained soils with a sandy or loose
upper layer
• Adequate calcium and organic matter are key to
high groundnut yields
• Top soil must have low clay content (>20%)
• Soil compaction could be problematic if fine
sand fraction is high in topsoil
• Heavy textured soils are problematic during
harvesting
• Recommended optimal pH is 5.3
 Land Preparation
•
• Three methods of land preparation
• Sowing on flat land
• Ridge-and-furrow system
• Broad bed and furrow system
 Fertilizer Requirement
• NPK fertilizer recommendations should be
based on soil tests
• Recommended fertilizer for groundnuts
should supply NPK is ratio 20:40:30
• Gypsum (CaSO4) should be adequate in the
soil to ensure high yields (200kg/ha)
• Calcium and Sulphur should be adequate in
the soil to ensure high yields
• “Pops” usually arise in soils with low calcium
content
 Fertilizer Nutrients
• Nitrogen-Groundnut is nitrogen fixing
• Nodules are formed at 25-30days
• Available nitrogen required in early stages
• Ammonium sulphate at 10 kg/ha N
recommended for soils with moderate to low
nitrogen content
• Phosphorous- Phosphorous requirement is high
• Phosphatic fertilizers should be applied where
soil available P is less than 15 kg/ha
• Single super phosphate is recommended
 Fertilizer Nutrients
• Potassium (K)- Potassium application not required
unless soil K is below 125kg/ha
• Calcium (Ca)- Calcium requirement is high at pod
filling
• Gypsum is a cheap source of calcium and sulphur
• Recommended gypsum application 300-500kg/ha
• Apply when soil Ca is below 100mg/kg
• Sulphur (S)- Biological redox processes and
chlorophyll formation
• Application recommended when soil available
sulphur is less than 10ppm
 Fertilizer Nutrients
• Iron (Fe)- Groundnut grown in high pH soils
exhibit iron chlorosis
• Spraying 0.5-1.0% ferrous sulphate with 0.1%
citric acid, 3% ferrous ammonium sulphate and
0.2% urea solution can correct iron deficiency
• Zinc (Zn)- Zinc increases chlorophyll content in
leaves, number of nodules and pod yield
• Zinc deficiency occurs in alkaline soils, low OM,
high levels of soil P or when soils are cool and wet
during the vegetative stage
• Application of zinc sulphate @ 10kg/ha to foliage
or 15kg/ha to the soil
Field Guide to Nodulation
Groundnut Nutrition
 Factors affecting Rhizobia Population
in the soil
• Soil Acidity
• Temperature
• Soil Moisture Content
• Competition
• Plant Stress
• Nitrogen level
• Seed treatment
• Soil structure
• Organic matter content
 Seeds and Seeding
• Seed should be treated with mancozeb @ 3g kg-1 seed
• Rhizobia inoculation in non-traditional areas
• Where there is root grub is a problem, treat the seed
with chlorpyriphos @ 6ml/kg of seed
• Seed Rate: 90-100 kg/ha for rainfed conditions and 140
to 150 kg/ha under irrigated conditions.
• Plant Population: bunch type is 330,000 plants/ ha or
33 plants/m2
• 250, 000 plants/ ha or 25 plants/m2 for the spreading
types
• Spacing:30 cm (inter-row) and 10 cm (in-row) for bunch
types and 40 cm (inter-row) and 10 cm (in-row) for
spreading types.
 Planting Dates
• Recommended planting early to late November.
• Dry planting can be practiced where soil
• Late planting usually comes with considerable
yield penalty
• Planting Depth-50-75mm
 Weed Management
• Critical weed competition 2 to 6 weeks after
sowing
• Yields can be reduced by 20-45% due to weeds
• Weed control can be instituted before planting
• The weed seeds that germinate with the first
rains can be ploughed under or killed with
herbicides to reduce early weed competition
• Weed control operations can damage plants at
the peg formation and peg penetration stages.
•
 Weed Management
• Methods of weed control in groundnuts
• 1) cultural practices
• (2) manual or mechanical
• (3) chemical control-Recommended herbicides
are butachlor @ 4-5 l/ha or pendimethalin @ 3-5
l/ha or oxyfluorfen @ 600-800ml ha- or
Metachlor @ 5-7.5 l/ha applied pre-emergence.
 Irrigation
• Critical stage is flowering to pod development.
Groundnut crop need 600 to 700mm over the
season for a high yields.
• Distribution is very critical
• Excessive irrigation during early plant stages is
not desirable
 Pest/Diseases Management
• Aphids-Suck sap and transmit diseases (rosette and
peanut stripe virus)
Control-Apply Dimethoate (Rogor) at 200-250 ml
a.i./ha
• Termites-enter the root system and burrow inside
the root and stem, usually killing the plant
• Control-Clean cultivation
• Seed treatment with Chlorpyriphos
• Carbofuran or Chlorpyriphos to the soil using 1 kg
a.i. /ha at planting time
 Pest and Disease Management
• Leaf Spot-: small, light brown, circular to irregular
lesions appear on the lower leaves of young plants.
Leaves are shed in wet weather.
• Rusts-Orange coloured pustules appear on the
lower surface of the leaflets
• Management
• tolerant cultivars
• Seed treatment with 3g/kg seed of mancozeb
• Spraying of mancozeb
• Removal of volunteer groundnut plants
• Adopt cereal-cereal-groundnut crop rotation
• Use of chemicals e.g. Chlorothalonil
Groundnut Rust Symptoms
Leaf Spot Symptoms
GROUNDNUT ROSSETE
 Groundnut Harvesting
• A proper to harvest is when a good number of
pods are fully developed
• Pod maturity is attained when they attain
normal size with prominent veins, the inside of
the shell turns dark and the kernels reach
maximum growth
• When 75% of the pods of a selected number of
plants already show the dark discolouration , the
harvest process can start
 Groundnut Harvesting
• Two common methods of harvesting groundnuts
• Mechanical Harvesting-Groundnuts are placed in
wind rows after being lifted, harvested with a
combine and conditioned in a drying unit.
• Stacking Method-the taproots are cut and the plants
are collected and stacked by hand.
• Plants are loosened to be removed from the soil by
hand.
• After the plants have been lifted they are collected
in bundles of 10-20 plants and placed in stacks.
• Groundnuts are left in the stack until picking
commences
 Groundnut Harvesting
• Groundnuts are ready for picking once the pods
can be removed from the stems without causing
long shreds to form.
• Groundnut seeds clearly rumble when the
pods are shaken
• Groundnut seed has a nutty taste.
• Picking should commence at 10% moisture
content
 Groundnut Storage
• Groundnuts are semi-perishable
• Subject to quality losses during storage
• Groundnuts should be stored as pods rather
than as kernels
• Pods should be well dried to have not more than
5% moisture
 Reading Assignment
• Aflatoxin Problem in groundnuts
• What are the causes?
• What is the impact on groundnuts trade?
• How can the problem be managed?