Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seed grown for its oil and protein contents. It is both a rainforest and savanna crop. The major groundnut producing countries in West Africa, Gambia, Nigeria, Togo, Republic of Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Upper Volta, Guinea. There is no country in the sub-region where groundnut is not produced. In the rainforest zone, two crops of groundnut could be produced per annum. The early crop planted in March/April and harvested in early August, and the late crop planted in August/September harvested in November.
In the savanna zone where the bulk of groundnut is grown, planting is carried out in May/June and harvested in September /October – one crop per annum. Shelled groundnuts are usually used as seeds for planting, if unshelled groundnuts are to be used for planting, they should be soaked in cold water for 18 to 24 hours, drained and /or dried for three to four hours after soaking before planting. It is advantageous to dress groundnut seeds against diseases and soil pests immediately before planting.

Rainfall
Adequate moisture for plant growth for a period 4 to 5 months (rainfall spread over 4 to 5 months) is adequate for successful cultivation of cowpeas and groundnut. African yam bean, soybean, Bambara groundnuts needs adequate moisture for a period of 8 to 9 months annually. All grain legumes are reasonably drought tolerant.

Temperature
Tropical legumes are not frost tolerant or resistant. They require temperature not less than 20oC with optimum range of 18oC TO 32oC for good growth and productivity.

Soil
Grain legumes will grow well on shallow but moderately fertile soils. Grains legumes tend to run into leaves when grown on very fertile soils.

Land preparation
Clear felling, land should be ploughed before harrowing. In all cases,

Planting materials
The planting materials are the viable seeds.

Pre-panting seed treatment
Seeds are normally dressed with fungicides (e.g fernasan D) prior to planting.

Planting dates
Although any of the grain legumes can be planted at anytime there is adequate moisture for plant growth, the major ones have specific times depending on the cropping system adopted.

Planting depth
Seeds are planted at 3cm to 5cm deep. The larger the seed size, the deeper.

Spacing
This depends on the cropping system. For sole cropping, the spacing for Groundnut is
Groundnut (erect type) is 0.25m x 1m (spreading type) is 1m x1m.

Post-planting Operations

Weeding
In all cases, the first weeding must be carried out within four weeks of planting. Subsequent weedings should be carried out as found necessary. It is economic and adequate to carry out only 3 weedings from time of planting to maturity.

Manuring and application of inorganic fertilisers
Manuring should be done at the time of harrowing i.e pre-planting while inorganic fertilizer rich in Phosphorus Pentoxide could be applied at the time of initiation of flowering.

Diseases and pest control
This should be carried out whenever there is any outbreak.

GROUNDNUTS MATURE IN 4 TO 4.5 MONTHS DEPENDING ON THE VARIETY-SPREADING OR ERECT TYPES.

Harvesting is either manual digging with the hoe or mechanical lifting with tractor-mounted groundnut-shakers.
Yield varies with varieties, husbandry and environmental factors, but normal range is 6,000 to 10,000 kilograms unshelled nuts/hectare. After Harvesting, groundnuts are dried unshelled to 6 to 10 percent moisture content, fumigated and stored in silos, bags, etc. or sold immediately to the oil Mill Industry.
Groundnuts are milled to obtain groundnut oil (an edible vegetable oil) and groundnut cake (GNC) which is fed to livestock. Considerable amounts of nuts are consumed roasted, boiled or raw.


Remember to share our post and leave a comment.
Visit www.agrocentricblog.com for more agriculture DIY, News and tips.

For more details on starting a Groundnut farm and other agriculture consultancy services, contact agrocentricblog@gmail.com

cc lalasticlala

Thank you. Pls what are the diseases of groundnut and how to control them.