Practice Manual: Groundnut

VARIETIES

Variety Maturation period

Serenut 4( has white seed and small) 3month(90-100 days)

Serenut 2( brown kernel and large) 3 and ½ month( 100-110 days)

Local varieties

Acholi white(white seeded) 3month( 90 days)

Roxo(has red kernel) 3 and ½ month(100-110 days)

Red beauty(has red kernel) 3 month( 90-110 days)

Igola(Pale brown and large seeded) 4month( 125-130 days)

PLANTING PREPARATIONS

Climatic conditions: optimum temperatures are 27-30°C for vegetative growth and 24-27°C
for reproductive growth. Between 450mm and 1250mm of evenly distributed rainfall is
required annually for good growth and yield. Groundnuts are grown both in the 1st and 2nd
season, 1st season is in the months of March/ April to June/ July and in the 2nd season is in the
months of July/August.
Soil condition: all soils, other than very heavy ones, are suitable for growing groundnut, but
the best are deep, well drained sandy, sandy loam or loamy sand soils with good water
holding capacity.

Rotation: Groundnuts should not be grown continuously on the same land to avoid buildup
of pests and diseases. A rotation of 3 years or longer can usually reduce diseases, pest and
weed problems but if circumstances force a farmer to plant in succession then deep ploughing
should be done to reduce the problem. Because of the incidence of pests and diseases,
groundnuts should not be grown after cotton; crops such as soybean, tobacco, tomatoes and
other vegetables should be avoided in rotation with groundnuts. Cereals such as maize,
sorghum and millet are good rotational crops, and other clean weeded crops such as cassava,
sweet potato and sunflower can also be used. Usually groundnuts also produce better crops
on fields that have been fallowed.

Land preparation: Land should be prepared early, before the rain starts so that sowing can
take place early in the rains. All previous crop residues and weeds should be completely
removed or well incorporated in the soil, and the seed bed should be smooth to provide good
soil-to-seed contact after sowing.

Seed selection: Farmers should select seed varieties that are suitable or adapted to their
environment. Seeds should be pure, not mixed and free from contamination. Damaged, small
or shriveled seeds should be discarded.

Planting/sowing: Planting should be done early on the onset of rain to ensure good
germination and the subsequent plant growth and also avoid end of season drought effects.
Sow groundnut seed in rows and at the right spacing. Why sow in rows?

➔ Eases operations like weeding, spraying, disease and pest identification, supervision
and harvesting.
➔ Uses less seeds.
➔ It enables mechanization of farm operations.

Seeds should be sown at a depth of 5-6 cm as it ensures the plant develops and produces
optimally. Deep planted seeds take a long time to emerge and produce a substandard plant.
Shallow planting(less than 5 cm) can only be considered when enough water is available and
the climate is moist. Seeds must not be sown immediately after heavy rains since they imbibe
too much water which causes rotting. This also results in excessive soil compaction which
may hinder germination.

Spacing: the recommended space between rows is 45cm and within a row is 10-15cm for
semi-erect types (eg. Igola, Serenut 1 and 2), 7.5-10cm for bunchy types (eg. Red beauty,
Serenut 4T and 6T). Row spacing can be reduced from 45cm to 30 cm if desired and this will
allow earlier grown cover and help prevent serious weed problems.

Seed rate: 30kg per acre

Weeding: Weeds compete with the crop for moisture, nutrients, light and space. Groundnuts
cannot compete effectively with weeds particularly 3-6 weeks after sowing. Generally 2-3
weddings are recommended, the first before flowering ( 2-4 weeks after planting) and at least
one other during pegging( 7-10 weeks after planting). Once pegging begins, soil disturbance
near the plant should be avoided or kept to a minimum, so as not to interfere with the
developing pods. Preferably weed by hand pulling at this stage. Earthing up of groundnuts is
not recommended as it limits yields and promotes disease development.

Harvesting: Harvesting should be done as soon as the groundnuts reach maturity therefore
the farmer should scout his crop on a regular basis to determine the best harvest date.
Harvesting on time gives the farmer maximum yield and grade. If harvesting is too early,
grading factors will be lower. If harvesting is too late, over mature pods can lose peg strength
resulting in yield loss. Some varieties ( serenut 1R, 2, 3R, 4T AND 6T) can sprout/germinate
in the field if it rains. Damage to pods at the time of harvest should be avoided as much as
possible since this can lead to rapid invasion of the pods by aspergillus flavus/ aspergillus
parasiticus which leads to aflatoxins contamination. Remove excessive moisture from the
pods after harvesting through shaking. Harvesting is done by pulling using a hand, forked hoe
or an ox-plough without the share.

Drying: Dry groundnuts as soon as possible (in developed countries, drying is within 48
hours). Groundnuts are mainly dried in the sun. Do not dry the produce in contact with soil.
Use clean sheets for example polythene sheets or tarpaulin or mats made of papyrus,
cemented grounds or raised structures. Do not dry diseased/infected produce along with
health ones.

Storage: Groundnut should be placed in packages that will maintain a suitable environment
and prevent or restrict moisture pick-up and insect/rodent infestation. Use new/clean gunny
or polybags to store the groundnuts and the bags should not be placed directly on the floor.
Do not heap groundnuts in shells/pods on the floor/ground inside the storage structure. Do
not mix new with old produce and control insects and rodents during storage.

PESTS AND DISEASES CONTROL AND THEIR CONTROL MEASURES

Common Pest of Groundnuts

Pest Description Control Measures

 ● Aphids are white, brown or
Groundnut aphids green in color
● They stick on the leaves and
stem of the ground.
● Produce some yellowish
sticky fluid on the leaves and
stems.
● Suck sap from the groundnuts
and transmit groundnut rosette
disease.
● Heavily attacked crop looks
yellow and gives a scorched
appearance known as “hopper
burn”
Leaf miner ● Mines the leaf and feeds
inside the leaflet.
● Eggs are laid singly on the
underside of the leaves.
● Young larvae mine the leaves
and later instars exit the mine
to web together several
leaflets.
● Closely space the
groundnuts.
● Spray the groundnuts
field with Dudu-
ethanoate 250ml per
acre.
● Spraying using bio
pesticides.
● Intercropping with pearl
millet.
● Groundnut-cereal
rotation reduces the leaf
miner incidence.
● Growing resistant
genotypes eg. Serenut
10R.
● Spraying with chemicals
like dimethoate 30 EC at
650ml/ha in 600 liters of
water
 ● Wilting of plants in patches
Termites ● Penetrate and hollow out the
tap root and stem thus kill the
plant.
● Bore holes into pods and
damage the seed.
● Rodents and monkeys eat the
Rodents and Monkeys groundnuts from the field
Storage pests
● Rodents eat groundnuts from
Rodents stores.
● Causes Post-harvest losses to
farmers.
● Contaminate groundnuts with
their urine thus lowering the
quality.
● Digging the termataria
and destroying the
queen.
● Harvest the groundnut as
soon as they are
matured, early removal
of the produce from the
field will reduce the
chances of termites
damage to pods.
● Apply chemicals like
chorpyriphos 20 EC or
Lindane 1.3% to control
termites.
● Maintain field sanitation
by clearing at least 1M
long away from the
field.
● Set rodent traps to help
trap and kill the rodents.
● Spray the groundnuts
field with a mixture of
red pepper and soap
solution.
● Maintain good storage
hygiene.
● Close all the gap or
openings in and around
stores
● Store groundnut sacks
on raised pallets.
 ● Translucent milky-white eggs ● Thoroughly dry the
Peanut bruchid beetles are attached to the pod wall.
After hatching, the larva
burrows straight through the
egg shell and the pod wall,
and starts eating the seed. The
first sign is the appearance of
“windows” cut into the pod by
the larva.
● They often live in the storage ● In case of a positive test
sacks and pupate in large
numbers at the bottom of the
pile of sacks.
● Infestation by adult beetles ● Fumigation of the
Red flour beetle can be readily observed by the
tunnels they leave when they
move through the flour and
other granular food products.
When infestation is severe,
these products turn grayish-
yellow and become moldy
with a pungent odour.
Common Diseases of Groundnuts
groundnut seeds.
● To prevent primary
infestation from
alternate hosts
(tamarind, acacia,
pongamia) avoid drying
groundnuts near these
host trees.
remove the infested
seeds followed by the
seed treatment. Dust the
seeds in stores with 50g
of malathion dust or
Lindane per 90kg.
● Storing groundnut
kernel with dried neem
leaves in any sealed
container can be
effective.
sample with methyl
bromide by 32g/m3 for
4 hour followed by
treatment with
chlorpyriphos at 3g/kg
seed.
Disease Description Control Measures

● It is a very serious viral disease ● Plant resistant variety.

Groundnut Rosette disease of groundnuts widespread in ● Spray whole plant with
sub-Saharan Africa and it is the insecticides such as
major disease of groundnut in dimethoate 14days after
Uganda. emergence ( usually 5mls
● The disease is transmitted by per 2 liters of water) and
aphids feeding on the crop. then at 10-day intervals
● Plants affected by the disease for a total of 4 sprays.
look stunted and presents a ● Practice early planting
bushy appearance. There is a and close spacing of the
marked reduction in the size of rows reduce the disease.
the leaflets and mottling ● Intercropping with beans
becomes visible. or sorghum is effective in
There are two types reducing the disease
⮚ Green rosette virus; green incidence.
rosette disease shows middle
mottling on young leaflets with
some leaf curling, but leaves are
not distorted. Plants infected
when young are severely
stunted and dark green in color.
⮚ Yellow rosette virus; yellow
(chlorotic) rosette symptoms
initially develop a faint mottling
on young leaves. Leaflets are
yellow with green veins. Plants
infected when young produce
progressively smaller distorted,
curled and yellow leaves. When
older plants are infected the
symptoms are generally
restricted to a few branches or
the apical portion of the plant.

Leaf spot disease

There are two types of leaf spots ● Crop rotation provides

⮚ Early; develops small necrotic partial control of leaf
 flecks that usually have light to
dark-brown centers, and a
yellow halo. The spots range
from 1mm-10mm in diameter.
Sporulation is on the adaxial
(upper) surface of leaflets.
⮚ Late; develops small necrotic
flecks that enlarge and become
light to dark brown. The halo is
either absent or less
conspicuous. Sporulation is
common on the abaxial (lower)
surface of leaves.
Groundnut rusts
Is one of the important foliar
diseases that cause substantial
losses to groundnut production and
reduces seed quality.
● Identified by appearance of
orange pustules (uredinia) on
the lower surface of leaves and
reddish-brown urediniospores.
Symptoms are mainly confined
to leaflets but pustules can be
seen on all aerial parts of the
plant except the flower and
pegs.
● Brown to dark reddish-brown
pustules appear on the lower
surface with the upper surface
developing yellow, chlorotic
spots with necrotic brown areas
in the center
Pictorials
spots when groundnut
follows either maize or
pasture.
● Early sowing reduces the
severity of leaf spots.
● Burying all groundnut
residues by deep
ploughing will reduce
initial inoculum.
● Grow resistant varieties
like Serenut 8R, 12R and
14R.
● Tree sprays of 0.2%
chlorothalonil at intervals
of 10-15days starting 4o
days after germination up
to 90 days
● Crop rotation and field
sanitation
● Early sowing to avoid
disease incidence.
● Intercropping with pearl
millet or sorghum
reduces the intensity of
rusts.
● Use resistant or tolerant
varieties: ICGV87160,
ICGV 86590
● Application of aqueous
neem leaf extract at 2-5%
is useful and economical
for the control of rusts.
● Spray chlorothalonil
0.2% or mancozeb 0.25%
Aphids on a groundnut plant

Termite damage on groundnut pods

Peanut bruchid beetle
Red flour beetle
Leaf miner

Severely attacked garden

Green rosette virus

Yellow rosette virus

Early leaf spot

Late leaf spot

Groundnut rust