The peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a species

in the legume or "bean" family (Fabaceae). The peanut was

probably first domesticated and cultivated in the valleys
of Paraguay.[1] It is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 50 cm
(1.0 to 1.6 ft) tall. The leaves are opposite, pinnate with four leaflets
(two opposite pairs; no terminal leaflet); each leaflet is 1 to 7 cm (
to 2 in) long and 1 to 3 cm ( to 1 inch) across.
The flowers are a typical peaflower in shape, 2 to 4 cm (0.8
to 1.6 in) ( to 1 in) across, yellow with reddish veining. The
specific name, hypogaea means "under the earth"; after pollination,
the flower stalk elongates, causing it to bend until the ovary touches
the ground. Continued stalk growth then pushes the ovary
underground where the mature fruit develops into alegume pod, the
peanut a classical example of geocarpy. Pods are 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to
2.8 in) long, containing 1 to 4 seeds.
Because, in botanical terms, "nut" specifically refers
to indehiscent fruit, the peanut is not technically a nut,[3] but rather
alegume. Peanuts are often served in a similar manner to
true nuts in many western cuisines, and are often referred to as a nut
in common English.

SITE SELECTION

Light-colored, well-drained, sandy loam soils are ideal for

growing peanuts. Since the taproot of the peanut plant frequently
penetrates to a depth of 18 inches, it is important that the subsoil be
deep and well drained and without tendencies to become excessively
dry.
*Peanuts should not be grown on the same land for successive
years (alternate with corn, potatoes, etc.).
Climatic Requirements

The orange-veined, yellow-petaled, pea-like flower of

the Arachis hypogaea is borne in axillary clusters above ground.
Following self-pollination, the flowers fade and wither. The stalk at
the base of the ovary, called the pedicel, elongates rapidly, and turns
downward to bury the fruits several inches in the ground, where they
complete their development. The entire plant, including most of the
roots, is removed from the soil during harvesting.[8] The fruits have
wrinkled shells that are constricted between pairs of the one to four
(usually two) seeds per pod.
Peanuts grow best in light, sandy loam soil. They require five
months of warm weather, and an annual rainfall of 500 to 1,000 mm
(20 to 39 in) or the equivalent in irrigation water.
The pods ripen 120 to 150 days after the seeds are planted. If the crop
is harvested too early, the pods will be unripe. If they are harvested
late, the pods will snap off at the stalk, and will remain in the
soil. They need an acidic soil to grow preferably with 5.9-7 pH.

ADAPTION
Soil Requirements

For high yields and superior quality, peanuts require a

moderate growing period (110 to 120 days) with a steady, rather high
temperature and a moderate, uniformly distributed supply of moisture.
The growing season should be long, warm and moist, and the harvest
season should be dry.
Varietal Selection
There are many varieties of the peanut, all possessing more or less
merit. A number have been tested here on our Station grounds and we can
heartily recommend the following varieties in the order named:
First, The SpanishAs compared with most other varieties, the
vines are small, and upright in growth, with nearly all the pods clinging close
to the tap-root; hence, they can be planted closer together and the yield will
be larger.
This variety produced 59 bushels per acre on very light, sandy soil.
Second, The Georgia and Tennessee RedThese are practically one and the
same variety-habit of growth, and fruiting qualities are much the same as the
Spanish-with us it made a slightly lower yield.
This variety has from three to four kernels to the pod. The nuts are rich in
flavor.
Third, The Virginia Running VarietyThis variety is often referred
to as the typical American peanut. It is decidedly the most popular with the
trade. The pods are large and white, the vines spreading, and under favorable
conditions it fruits nearly out to the ends of the branches.
CULTURAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Land preparation
Plant peanuts in
May and June if the season
is rainy and between
October and November if
the season is dry. Summer
is more favorable because
in rainy weather, peanut
leaves and branches are
abundant, but the fruits are
few. If there is irrigation,
peanuts should be planted
in February to be able to
harvest big and plentiful
grains. Peanuts may be planted along with other crops, for instance,
watermelon.

Preparation of Planting Materials

In the preparation of the soil, the chief essentials are:
1. Deep plowing, from 8 to 9 inches.
2. Thorough pulverization with a harrow, drag, smoothing board, etc.
3. Remove all stones, roots, stumps, clods, and obstructions of all kinds.

Preparation of Planting Materials

Raw peanuts
(may be purchased right here at the Texoma Peanut Inn)
Flower pot or container with drainage hole (6-8 inches in
diameter)
Sandy or
sandy loam
soil

Planting
The time for planting the peanut in this locality is practically
the same as for corn, beginning about the middle of March when not
hulled, and the first of April when shelled. A good plan is to break the
shell crosswise; they come up almost as quickly as when shelled.
If the Spanish peanut is shelled and planted early in April, it
will mature about the middle of July, when they can be pulled, the
ground prepared again, reseeded, and a second crop produced.
There are two principal methods of planting the peanut; viz., in
drills and checks. The drill method proved most desirable with us,
giving the largest yield.
For the Spanish we placed our rows from 2 1/2 to 3 feet apart;
for the running varieties, from 3 to 3 1/2 feet apart. Furrows were run
as nearly 4 inches deep as possible, the compost put directly into the
furrow, and the nuts planted on it.
Fertilizer Application
If the land has been well prepared as above directed and is
practically free from weed seeds, the cultivation will be quite simple.
Cultivate only enough to keep the ground soft and mellow and free
from weeds.
There are two methods, however, of cultivating the peanut;
viz., the ridge method, and the flat method. We tried both, and the flat
method gave decidedly the best results.

Cultivation and Weeding

The peanut is an interesting plant, in that it adjusts itself to
many kinds and methods of fertilization. It does well fertilized exactly

as for corn; makes a splendid yield when given the same treatment as
cowpeas; does equally well when fertilized the same as for cotton.
For the sandy soils of Macon County, we found the following
compost mixture most satisfactory:
In the fall and winter, a large pen was filled with leavesmuck
from the swampand farmyard manure. The mixture consisted of
one load of leaves from the woods together with the rich top earth,
one load of muck from the swamp, and one load of manure from the
barns, pig-pen, poultry house, etc. The pen was filled in this way, a
rough shed put over it to throw off the excess of water, so that the
fertility would not be washed out. Eighteen tons of this mixture,
together with 100 lbs. acid phosphate, 50 lbs. kainit, and 200 lbs. lime,
were applied to the acre.
Where one must depend upon a commercial mixture, the one
given below gave decidedly the largest yield:

Acid Phosphate 55 lbs.

Cotton-seed meal 125 lbs.
Kainit 100 lbs.
Barnyard manure 3 tons.
Agricultural lime 200 lbs.

Pest Management

Peanuts can tolerate higher insect thresholds than other more-determinate

crops. However, crops grown in cotton and lucerne growing areas often
have more above-ground pests than crops in other regions.
In traditional peanut growing areas (e.g. the South Burnett), soil
pests can cause major economic damage. Foliar pests rarely cause
economic damage. The worst soil-insect damage usually occurs where
there is a long history of peanut growing with few non-legume crops in
the rotation.
In drought years, etiella is a major problem in dryland crops.
Etiella larvae are able to reach the pods in dry soil and damaged pods are
at greatly increased risk of aflatoxin contamination. Most other pest
problems only occur occasionally.
As peanuts expand into newer areas some pests, such as
helicoverpa, mites and mirids, are a more constant problem.Soil pests are
likely to become important in newer areas as more peanuts are grown,
and new species may be encountered that are specific to the soil type in
question. Pest damage to peanuts can start as soon as the crop is planted
and continues until maturity. Under intensive production a number of
pests will warrant control.

Major pests of peanuts

Helicoverpa
Mites
Etiella/Lucerne seed web moth
Whitegrubs/Scarabs

Minor pests of peanuts

Whitefringed weevil
False wireworms
Leafhoppers /Jassids
Cluster caterpillars
Mirids
Silverleaf whitefly
Thrips
Armyworms/cutworms

Pre-emergent and seedling pests

Pre-emergent and seedling damage is often caused by larvae from

the whitefringed weevil. False wireworms and mole crickets also cause
occasional damage.

Vegetative pests
During the vegetative stage, damage to peanuts is mainly to
foliage and caused by leaf-chewing or sap-sucking insects. Insects that
suck sap can occur any time after crop emergence and include leafhoppers
(jassids), peanut mites and cowpea aphids. Cowpea aphids (Aphis
craccivora) are not considered a pest in peanuts. However, they are
vectors of the peanut mottle virus. While this virus is not usually a
problem in peanuts, it is a major concern in navy beans if these are grown
nearby.
Leaf-chewing pests include helicoverpa, cluster caterpillar and on
some occasions, red-shouldered leaf beetles .

Flowering, pegging and podfill pests

Leaf-feeding and sap-feeding insects remain present into this
growth stage. Helicoverpa larvae attack flowers and pegs, as do cluster
caterpillars. Mirids can also affect this growth stage by feeding on buds
and flowers, causing them to abort. Heavy silverleaf whitefly (SLW)
infestations at flowering and podding reduce plant vigour and yield but
peanuts are not a favoured host for SLW and populations are rarely
damaging.
Western flower thrips (WFT) are a potential threat to peanuts,
mainly because they transmit tobacco spotted wilt virus (TSWV).
However, an increased incidence of TSWV has not yet been observed in
response to WFT in Australian peanuts. Etiella are a major pest in
drought years, and etiella-damaged pods have much higher aflatoxin
levels than undamaged pods.
Other pests capable of inflicting severe pod damage include whitegrubs,
false wireworms, wireworms and earwigs . Mites can be a problem in late
crops in some regions, particularly where there is widespread use of nonselective pesticides.

The time to harvest varies with the date of planting and

the variety of peanut. Experienced planters prefer to get their
crop harvested before the first killing frost, because it not only
injures some of the nuts, but greatly damages the hay, by
lowering its feeding value and causing the vines to drop their
leaves.
There are a number of special plows and devices made to
render harvesting of a crop as easy as possible. All of them have
more or less merit. The small farmer, however, can use to good
advantage the same method used in harvesting the sweet potato;
viz., that of plowing a furrow on each side of the vines, and then
bursting out the middle containing the vines, which can be picked
up readily, the earth shaken off and the vines, wind-rowed,
loosely piled, or treated in any way desired. An old and favorite
way is to plow up the vines in the morning of a warm, sunshiny
day, allowing them to dry until late in the afternoon when they
are gathered up and stacked around poles, which are about 7
feet high, and set firmly in the ground at convenient places over
the field.
Logs or poles should be laid on the ground around the
center pole, so as to keep the vines off the ground. Stack loosely
so the air can pass through freely. Care should be taken to stack
the vines so the peanuts will be on the inside next to the pole.
Cap the stacks with hay, straw, corn stalks, or anything
that will turn the water. If the weather is good they may be safely
picked, in from 15 to 20 days after stacking.

Harvesting
Post Harvest Operations

1. Stripping/Threshing
Farmers aerate and dry newly harvested peanut in the field
which can either handpick or strip/thresh pods from the vine by
beating. To shake off pods from the vines, farmers repeatedly
strike pods against a hard surface. Manual threshing of wet
peanuts is accomplished at the rate of 11 kg/hr per person
while that of half-dried peanuts at the rate of 30 kg/hr. per
person.
For wet-season crops, farmers usually strip/thresh the
pods immediately after harvest so that they can be immediately
dried to the desired moisture content to prevent deterioration.
For dry-season crops, stripping is delayed because farmers
windrow the plants in the field to reduce plant and pod
moisture content.
Picking is done is such a way that the peduncle does not go
with the pod. The pods are then washed and the inferior,
immature ones are separated from the mature and sound pods.
The parent plant or vines are usually either left in the field to
decompose or kept and used as animal fodder.
2. Drying
Sun drying is the traditional and most commonly used drying
method by farmers which is considered as the cheap method
but very dependent on climatic condition. It will take 2-5 days
depending upon the weather condition to dry the crops left in
the field under the sun. In general, drying is done twice within
the chain of postharvest operation; initial drying prior to
threshing and final drying before shelling.
When peanuts are grown as second crop, windrow frying in the
field is sometimes followed by aeration in small shaded huts
prior to threshing and final drying as practiced in Cagayan
Valley region.

Peanut should be shelled carefully to avoid scratching,

splitting and rupturing of the seed coat, breaking of the
cotyledon, or separating one or both of the cotyledons from the
embryonic axis. Traditionally, farmers shell peanut manually.
Manual shelling of sundried and flatbed dried peanuts gave
similar average recoveries of 68%. Hand shelling is the
preferred method of obtaining peanut seeds which protect
seeds from being broken.
4. Sorting
After shelling, processors manually clean and sort peanut into
reject, broken whole nut and unshelled nut. The common
practice to winnow peanut by using crircular bamboo tray
"bilao" and hand pick the nuts. Substandard kernels and other
impurities are manually sorted from good kernels done by
separating the split, damaged, moldy and other defective
kernels.
5. Storing
Peanuts are stored in unshelled form. The shells act as a
natural protective covering of the seeds against mechanical
damage and insect infestation. Farmers use sacks but some
store peanut in open concrete pits under their farmhouse,
bamboo baskets. For shelled peanuts, traders use bags piled to
a maximum of 7-8 layers only. Shelled peanuts are usually
stored 2 months and six months only for the unshelled peanut.

Marketing
3. Shelling

Peanuts, like everything else, sell more quickly and bring

a better price if the nuts are uniform in size, clean, and the shells
of a bright color. If washing is necessary, it should be done on a
clear warm day, and they should be dried quickly in the sun.
A large number of the pops and otherwise faulty nuts can
be removed by winnowing them in a good strong wind, like peas.
They should now be put in bags holding 100 lbs. each. Put away
in a dry, well ventilated house until ready to sell. The pops and
faulty nuts can be fed to the hogs.

Recommended Varieties
The recommended peanut varieties in the Philippines are as follows:
1. UPL Pn-2 - 104-111 days
2. UPL Pn-4 - 105-110 days
3. UPL Pn-6 - 105-110 days
4. UPL Pn-8 - 100-110 days
5. BPI Pn-2 - 97-101 days
6. UPL Pn-10 - 98-100 days
7. PSB Pn-2 - 101-103 days
8. PSB Pn-3 - 103-104 days
9. ICGV 8848 -120 days
10. ICGV 88392 -120 days
11. ICGV 88406 -120 days