Groundnut is the third most important oilseed of the world as well as second greatest in India. It is also known as earthnuts, goober peas, monkey nuts, pygmy nuts and pea nuts in local language. It belongs to legume family. Depending upon variety and agronomic condition oil content of seed vary from 44-50%. Its oil is used in cooking, cosmetic, and soap making etc.

In India, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are major groundnut growing states.

In Maharashtra, it is cultivated in Kharif as well as summer season. In Maharashtra, near about 2.4lakh hectare area is under kharif cultivation and 0.9lakh hector area is under summer cultivation.

Groundnut is raised in a sandy loam as well as well drained sandy clay loam soil. Fertile deep well- drained soil with pH of 6.5 -7 are perfect for groundnut cultivation. Heavy and stiff clays are unsuitable as the pod development is hampered in such soils.

J.L – 501: Ready to harvest in 105-110days. Gives average yield of 8-10qtl/acre.

S.B 11: Suitable for kharif as well as rabi season. Ready to harvest in 105-120days. Gives average yield of 4.8-6qtl/acre.

JL 24: It is bunch type, early maturing variety. Ready to harvest in 90 days. It can sustain in water scarcity areas. It is resistant to crown rot disease. Gives average yield of 4-6 quintal /acre.  

TAG 24: Suitable for kharif as well as rabi season. Gives average yield of 8-12qtl/acre.

JL 220: Suitable for kharif season. Ready to harvest in 90-95days. Gives average yield of 8-10qtl/acre.

JL 286: Suitable for kharif as well as rabi season. Ready to harvest in 90-95days. Gives average yield of 8-10qtl/acre.

TPG 41: Suitable for rabi as well as summer season. Ready to harvest in 125-130days. Gives average yield of 10-12qtl/acre.

TG 26: Suitable for rabi as well as summer season. Ready to harvest in 95-115days. Gives average yield of 10-12qtl/acre.

Phule Unnati: Suitable for rabi as well as summer season. Ready to harvest in 110-125days. Gives average yield of 8-14qtl/acre.

JL 776: Suitable for kharif season. Ready to harvest in 115-120days. Gives average yield of 8-10qtl/acre.

Other States varieties:

RS 1: Spreading type variety, with medium size grains. Ready to harvest in 135-140 days. It gives an average yield of 6-8 quintal /acre.  

RSB 103-87: Semi spreading variety gives average yield of 7-8 quintal /acre.

RG 510 (Raj Mungphali): Spreading type of variety, ready to harvest in 125-130 days. Suitable for sowing in irrigated. Groundnuts are of medium size and pink color. It gives average yield of 10-12quintal /acre. 

RG 425 (Raj Durga): It is a semi spreading type of variety. Suitable for sowing in 125-130 days. Ready to harvest in 125-130 days. Groundnuts are of pink or white color. Gives average yield of 6-8 quintal /acre under unirrigated conditions and 12-14.4 quintal /acre under irrigated conditions. It is resistant to collar rot disease.  

Avoid sowing in same field year after year. Rotate groundnut with cereal crops. Before sowing make field clean and free from stubbles or remains of previous crop.  Plough land at the depth of 15-20cm and pulverized soil to obtained good tilth. After ploughing, do harrowing for two-three times. Then do planking operation to levelled soil. At time of last ploughing, add Gypsum@1qtl/acre and mixed well in soil. Also to protect crop from termite, apply Phorate 10G or Carbofuron 3G@8-10qtl per acre in soil. 

Time of sowing

For kharif season, complete sowing in month of June - July. For summer season, carry out sowing from 15th January to 15th of February.

Spacing

For sowing use spacing of 30cmx10cm i.e. row to row spacing of 30cm and plant to plant spacing of 10cm.

Sowing Depth

Pods are sown with help of seed drill at depth of 3 to 5cm.  

Method of sowing

Seeds are sown with help of seed drill. Planters are also available for sowing groundnut. Sow seeds on ridge bed to obtained higher result.

Seed Rate

Seed rate vary with variety used. For JL 501, TJ 26, SB 11 use seed rate of 40kg per acre.

Whereas for variety like Phule Pragati, TPG 41 used seed rate of 45-50kg/acre.

Seed Treatment

Use healthy and well developed kernels for sowing. Discard very small, shriveled and diseased kernels. Carry out seed treatment with Thiram@3gm or Captan@3gm, or Carbendazim @2gm/kg of the kernels to avoid infestation from soil borne disease. After chemical treatment, treat seeds with Trichoderma viride@4gm/kg of seed or Pseudomonas fluorescens@10gm/kg of seed. Seed treatment will protect the young seedlings from root-rot and collar rot infection.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

Apply fertilizer depending upon Soil test. Overall groundnut crop required Nitrogen@10kg and Phosphorus@20kg/acre inform of Urea@25kg, SSP@125kg per acre. Apply fertilizer, 2-3cm deep in soil. 

Also applied Gypsum@160kg per acre. Apply half of gypsum at time of seed sowing and remaining at time of pod development.Application of gypsum encourages pod formation and better filling up of the pods.

Irrigation for two or three time may be necessary for good crop growth depending upon seasonal rainfall. Flowering, pegging, and Pod development are critical stages for Irrigation. Avoid water stress at these stages.

For good growth and yield, weed control during first 45 days is crucial. If weed control is not proper near about 34%-60% yield loss is observed. Give two hoeing, first three weeks after sowing and second one, three weeks after first hoeing. Avoid intercultural operations after pegs formation.

Spray Fluchloralin @600ml/acre before seed sowing. It will helps in controlling grassy as well as broad leaf weeds. Also for effective control of weeds, take spray of Pendimethalin @1 liter/acre as pre-emergence weedicide.

Earthing Up: It is an important operation. It is to be done within 40-45 days after sowing. It helps in peg penetration in the soil and thus helps in pod development.

• Pests and their control:

Aphid: Its infestation is high when rainfall is low. These are black bodied tiny insects suck the sap making the plants stunted and yellow. They secrete a sticky fluid (honeydew) on the plant, which is turned black by a fungus.

It can be controlled by spraying of rogor @ 300ml/acre or Imidacloprid 17.8 % SL@ 80 ml/acre or Methyl demeton 25% EC @ 300 ml/acre as soon as the symptoms are seen.

White grub: The adult beetles emerge from the soil during June-July with the first showers of rain. They congregate on the nearby trees such as ber, guava, rukmanjani, grapevines, almonds etc. and feed on their leaves during night. The eggs are laid in the soil and the larvae (grubs) hatching from them eat away the rootlets or root hairs of the groundnut plants.

For effective management of white grub plough the field twice during May-June. It exposes the beetles resting in the soil. Do not delay crop sowing. Before sowing treat the seed with Chlorpyriphos 20E C@12.5 ml per kg kernels. For beetle control, spray with carbaryl @900 gm/100 Ltr of water. The spray should be repeated after every rainfall till the middle of July. Apply Phorate @ 4 kg or carbofuran @ 13 kg per acre in the soil at or before sowing.

Hairy caterpillar: The caterpillars occur in masses and defoliate the crop, reducing the yield. Larvae are reddish brown with black band and reddish hairs on all over body.

Set up 3-4 light traps immediately after receipts of rains. Collect and destroy egg masses in the cropped area. Avoid migration of larvae by digging a trench 30 cm deep and 25 cm wide with perpendicular sides around the infested fields. Distribute small balls of poison bait in the field during evening hours. To prepare poison bait, mix 10 kg of rice bran, 1 kg jaggery and one litre Quinalphos. To control young larvae, do dusting of Carbaryl or Quinalphos at 300 ml/acre. To control grown up caterpillar, spray with 200 ml of Dichlorvos 100 EC @200 Ltr water/acre.

Groundnut leaf miner: Young larvae boar into the leaflets and form small purple blotch on the leaf. Later stages larvae web the leaflets together and feed on them, remaining within the folds. Severely attacked field gives "burnt" appearance. Set up light traps @ 5/acre. Apply Dimethoate 30EC@300 ml/acre or Malathion 50 EC @400ml/acre or Methyl demeton 25% EC@ 200 ml/acre.

Termites: Termites penetrate and hollow out the tap root and stem thus kill the plant. Bore holes into pods and damage the seed. Due to infestation of termite wilting of plant is observed.

Use well decomposed cow dung. Do not delay harvesting of crop. Seed treatment with chlorpyriphos @ 6.5ml /kg of seed may reduce termite damage. Do Dusting of Chlorpyriphos@2 ltr/acre in soil before sowing in endemic areas.

Pod borer: The holes are observed in young plant that is plugged with excreta. Nymph is of white in early stages and later turns brown.

Apply Malathion 5D@10 kg/acre or Carbofuran 3%CG @13 kg/acre, on soil at 40 days prior to sowing on infected area.

• Diseases and their control:

Tikka or Cercospora Leaf-spot: Necrotic circular spot surrounded by a light-yellow ring on the upper side of the leaves.

To control the disease take care from starting, from selection of seeds. Select healthy and unblemished kernels. Before sowing do seed treatment with Thiram (75%)@5 gm or Indofil M-45 (75%)@3 gm/kg of kernels. Spray the crop with Wettable sulphur 50 WP@ 500-750 gm/200-300 Litres of water per acre. Give 3 or 4 sprays at fortnight intervals, starting from the first week of August. Alternatively, spray the irrigated crop with Carbendazim(Bavistin/Derosal/Agrozim 50 WP@500gm/200 Ltr of water per acre. Give three sprays at fortnight intervals, starting when the crop is 40 days old.

Collar-rot and Seed rot: These diseases are caused by Aspergillus niger. It causes rooting of the hypocotyl region, wilting and death of the seedlings. To control seed treatment is necessary. Treat the seed with Thiram or Captan 3 gm/kg of seed.

Alternaria leaf disease: Characterized by blighting of apical portions of leaflets which turn light to dark brown color. In the later stages of infection, blighted leaves curl inward and become brittle. Lesions produced by A. alternata are small, chlorotic, water soaked, that spread over the surface of the leaf.

If infestation is observed, do foliar application of Mancozeb@3 gm/ Ltr or Copper oxychloride@3 gm/acre or Carbendazim@ 3 gm/ Ltr of water.

Rust: Pustules appear first on the lower surface of leaf. They may be formed on all aerial plant parts apart from flower and pegs. Severely infected leaves turn necrotic and desiccate but are attached to the plant.

After infestation is observed, take spray of Mancozeb@400 gm/acre or Chlorothalonil@400 gm/acre or Wettable sulphur@ 1000 gm/acre. If necessary take second spray with interval of 15 days.

Potassium Deficiency:

Leaves are not growing properly and grows in irregular shape. Mature leaves show pale yellow appearance and veins remain green.

To overcome deficiency apply Muriate of Potash@16-20kg/acre.

Calcium Deficiency:

Mostly observed in light soils or alkaline soils. Plants not grow properly. Leaves show curling up.

To overcome this deficiency apply Gypsum@200kg/acre at peg formation stage.

Iron deficiency:

Entire leaf get white or chlorotic.

If deficiency is observed, spray crop with ferrous sulphate@5gm + citric acid@1gm/Ltr of water with one week interval. Continue spraying till deficiency get disappeared.

Zinc Deficiency:

Affected plant shows leaves in cluster form, leaves growth get stunted and appear small.

Take spray of Zinc sulphate@2gm/Litre of water. Spray for two-three times with 7 days interval.

Sulphur Deficiency:

Young Plant growth get stunted and appeared smaller in size. Also leaves are small and give yellowish appearance. Maturity of plant get delayed.

As a preventive measure apply Gypsum@200kg/acre at planting and pegging stage.

Kharif sown crop is get ready to harvest in month of November. When plant show uniform yellowing of crop along with shedding of older leaves. Crop sown during April end - May end is ready for harvesting after the monsoons are over towards end of August and September. For efficient harvesting of crop, adequate moisture should be present in soil and crop should not be overripe. The tractor- mounted groundnut-digger shaker developed at the Punjab Agricultural University may be used for quick harvesting. Harvested plants are stacked for a few days for drying and stripped afterwards. After curing, collect the crop at one place and give 2-3 shakings and beatings daily for 2 to 3 days with a toothed rake or trangli to separate pods and leaves from the stalk. Collect the pods and leaves into a heap and winnow. Dried pods in sun for 4 or 5 days before storage.

On cloudy days removed pods and then immediately place them in an air drier@27-38 degree centigrade for 2 days or until pods dry to constant mass (6-8%).

After cleaning and grading, store pods in gunny bags and stack them up to 10 bags high in separated stocks so that air freely circulate among them. The bags should be piled on wooden plank to avoid damage due to dampness.

Processed Peanuts: Apart from raw edible peanuts, India is also in a position to supply blanched peanuts, roasted salted peanuts and dry roasted peanuts and a variety of peanut based products.