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.

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.
 

BG 2: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 122gm. It gives an average yield of 9qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 69% shelling life. The seeds contain 49.3% oil content.
 
MH 2: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 64gm. It gives an average yield of 12.5qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 72% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. It is extremely dwarf variety and has red peel.

PG 1: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 68gm. It gives an average yield of 7.9qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 69% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content.

M145: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 86gm. It gives an average yield of 9.16qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 76% shelling life. The seeds contain 50% oil content. It has light green color leaves, and the variety is suitable for sowing in Punjab region.

M 13: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 120gm. It gives an average yield of 11qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 68% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. It has deep green waxy leaves, and is suitable for sowing in whole India.

M 37: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 85gm. It gives an average yield of 6.3qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 69% shelling life. The seeds contain 50.5% oil content. It has light brown color peel and the variety is suitable for sowing in Punjab region.

M 335: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 140gm. It gives an average yield of 9.58qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 67% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. The variety is suitable for sowing in Punjab region.

SG 84: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 120gm. It gives an average yield of 8.5qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 64% shelling life. The seeds contain 50% oil content.

T 28: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 80gm. It gives an average yield of 7qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 74% shelling life. The seeds contain 47.5% oil content. Grains are medium in size which is round in shape and has red color peel.

T 64: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 148gm. It gives an average yield of 8qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 70% shelling life. The seeds contain 48% oil content. Grains are egg shaped and light red in color.

Chandra: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 118gm. It gives an average yield of 10qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 70% shelling life. The seeds contain 47.7% oil content. It is suitable for growing in north India.

Chitra: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 112gm. It gives an average yield of 8.5qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 71% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. It has deep green color leaves, peel is pink in color, and is suitable for growing in north India.

Kaushal: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 120gm. It gives an average yield of 7qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 71% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. The variety matures in 108-112 days and is suitable for sowing in whole India.

TG 17: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 120gm. It gives an average yield of 8qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 69% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. It is suitable for sowing in summers.

Kopargaon 3: The weight of 100 legumes is approximately 90gm. It gives an average yield of 7.9qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 69% shelling life. The seeds contain 47% oil content. 3-seeded legume, red peel, and it is an early maturing variety which matures in 90 days.

TG 26: It gives an average yield of 6qtl-10qtl/acre of legumes and the seeds contain 49% oil content. Suitable for sowing in summer season.

RG 141: It gives an average yield of 8-10qtl/acre of legumes and the seeds contain 51% oil content. The variety is released in 1991.

RG 144: It gives an average yield of 7.5-14qtl/acre of legumes and the seeds contain 51% oil content. The variety is released in 1989.

Kaveri 3: It gives an average yield of 8.5-10qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 73% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. Suitable for sowing all over India.

MA 3: It gives an average yield of 10-12qtl/acre of legumes and grains have 72% shelling life. The seeds contain 49% oil content. The variety matures in 125-130 days. It is medium spreading variety.

Avoid sowing of ground 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. Use harrow or tillers for cultivation purpose. 
 

Time of sowing
In kharif season, sowing is done in first week of June to first week of July.

Spacing
Use line to line spacing of 45cm.

Sowing Depth
Pods are sown with help of seed drill at depth of 5cm. 

Method of sowing
Seeds are sown with help of seed drill. Planters are also available for sowing groundnut.
 

Seed Rate
For sowing, 34-40kg/acre seeds are required.

Seed Treatment
Use healthy and well developed kernels for sowing. Discard very small, shrivelled and diseased kernels. Carry out seed treatment with Thiram@3gm or Captan@3 gram, 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 dose depending upon soil test. Overall groundnut crop requires Nitrogen@9kg/acre, Phosphorus@6kg/acre and Potash@12kg/acre in the form of Urea@20kg/acre, DAP@40kg/acre and MOP@20kg/acre. Broadcast or drill all fertilizer at the time of sowing.

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.

• Pest 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 @400mll/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.

• Disease 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.